What's Done in the Dark
by Kuno12
Summary: Seventeen year old Jinora Gyatso is a straight A honor student, daughter of Professor Tenzin Gyatso, supposedly all around good girl... and in a tight-lipped secret relationship with Kai Fong, Republic City High's resident bad boy and delinquent. After they're exposed, they now have to deal with the consequences and judgments of their year-long secret.
1. The Diary

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>One should always beware of keeping secrets because surely what's done in the dark will always come to the light.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Diary<strong>

* * *

><p>"Jinora? Jinora, we're home!"<p>

Jinora's eyes snapped open. No way. _No_. That could _not_ be her family already. They weren't supposed to be home until tonight.

She had to be dreaming. Oh Raava, this had to be a dream because her parents could not catch her boyfriend sleeping in her room. It wasn't the fact that he was in her room that was now raising a panic inside her. That could actually be dealt with in some difficult fashion. The problem was it could only be dealt with if somebody actually _knew _about him. As far as her family was concerned, Jinora didn't _have _a boyfriend let alone one who was fast asleep on her bed. Picking her head off of Kai's chest, she listened in just to see if her mind was playing some sick joke on her, but there was no doubt about the distinct voices coming from downstairs.

Why were they home so early? Did they even call? Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her cell phone light blinking. Snatching it off the nightstand, she looked at it. There were several missed calls from her parents and one text message from Ikki: _Mom and Dad just picked us up. We'll be home in 20 minutes_.

She let out a sharp gasp. This couldn't be happening. No, this could not be happening. Whipping around, she kneeled over Kai with her hands pushing in on his ribs.

"Kai! Kai, wake up!" she whispered furiously. He muttered something in his sleep, but didn't budge. "For goodness' sake, wake up!"

He only groaned and winced at the pressure she was applying on his ribs. "What is it?" he grogged. "Babe, that really hurts-"

"Jinora? Are you asleep?" A jolt of something like terror struck her heart. Spirits, they were getting closer to the stairs.

"N-no! I'll be down in a second! Just give me another minute! " she called.

They didn't have time for this. She buried her hands in the collar of his shirt and yanked him up to her level.

That certainly woke him up enough. "Hey-"

Looking him dead in the eye, she hissed. "My parents. Are _home_."

"What!?" he almost cried, leaping off the bed.

"Be quiet!" she shushed him frantically.

Kai looked around the room, half-disoriented and cursing the air blue as quietly as he could. He snatched up a black backpack and started throwing in whatever looked like his. "I thought you said they weren't supposed to be home until like ten o' clock tonight!?" he whispered.

"They weren't! They texted me about coming home early and I didn't see it because we fell asleep! You have to go right now!"

"I know! I'm trying, I'm trying!"

She unconsciously held a finger to her lips to shush him and couldn't stop herself from looking over her shoulder at the door. Were those footsteps she heard coming upstairs?

"You have to go! Now!"

"I'm trying! Let me get my stuff-"

Jinora could have cried in that moment, those footsteps sounded like they were getting so close. "Kai, _please_! Go! I'll get the rest and bring it to you tomorrow!"

"Jinora? What are you doing up there?"

He didn't seem to need anymore motivation after that. They both vaulted towards the window. She opened it up so hastily that it almost hit her head as she slid it up. When he was just outside, he twisted around to face her again "I'll call you later okay?"

"I'll have my phone on me. Now, please go? Before they come up here." Leaning her forehead against his, she pecked him on the lips and then again just for good luck. After making sure he got onto the ground safely, she shut the window and he was gone.

Without sparing a second thought, she rushed downstairs and nearly collided with her father. Tenzin Gyatso blinked at his daughter. "There you are," he said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "How was your studying, dear?"

"F-fine," she stammered a little at first then cleared her throat. "Got it all done. I even finished writing that big paper."

Not exactly a lie. Of course, she had finished that weeks ago though.

"That's wonderful. See, it's that type of dedication that's going to get you far in life. I'm just sorry we couldn't take you with us on our trip. The resort was really nice. I think you would've appreciated how peaceful it was."

Speaking of peaceful, she thought gloomily, thinking about the rather pleasant nap she and Kai had been taking just ten minutes ago.

"How come you're back so early?" she asked. "I thought you weren't supposed to be home until tonight?"

"Ah, your mother was worried about leaving Ikki and Meelo at their friend's houses for too long. I'll admit, so was I." he said good-naturedly. "Besides, we didn't want to get caught in traffic on the way back that late with Rohan with us. You know how cranky he can get in the car."

"Oh, well I-"

"JINORA!"

Jinora sighed. What did Ikki want now? She'd only been home two seconds. "What is it?" she called.

Ikki came stomping out of the kitchen, red in the face. "Where. Are. My _strawberries_?"

"You're what?"

"My strawberries! The ones I told you not to eat!? They're not there anymore!" Ikki scowled fiercely at her.

Jinora blinked. Strawberries...strawberries... straw- oh, monkeyfeathers. The box of strawberries she found and pulled out for her and Kai to share when they were watching T.V. the night her parents left. The ones she completely forgot were Ikki's.

"Oh... those strawberries," she began sheepishly. "W-I, um... I ate them. I'm sorry."

Ikki's mouth fell open. "You _ate _them? _All of them_? The _entire box_?_"_

"See, I was watching T.V.-"

"I can't believe you! Uncle Bumi got those for me when he went to Omashu! You can't even get them here! That's not-"

"Ikki, that's enough." said her father gently, but firmly. "We can get you some more. Even if we have to order them. Your sister didn't mean it. It was a mistake."

"But Dad, those ones aren't even in season anymore. I waited all year..."

"Don't worry, it won't be the last time you ever eat them. Okay?"

Apparently resigning it to a lost cause, Ikki glared at Jinora before stalking off back into the ktichen. Tenzin turned back to Jinora "And I know she told you at least a hundred times to make sure you leave them alone. You have to listen to her too, now."

"I know..."

It was an honest mistake, but she still felt bad about it. Her excitement at finally getting to spend some completely unobstructed alone time with Kai might have made them both a little eager. She also knew he loved strawberries just as much as she did so when she found them in the fridge, she snatched them up, assuming her mother had bought them and not spared them too much thought after that.

"Well, come on. We should go help your mother out with dinner."

-:-:-:-

At dinner that night, Ikki was still mad at her. She refused to so much as look at Jinora if she could help it. Jinora didn't let it bother her. She apologized for eating them a couple of times by now and if her little sister was going to be stubborn about it then she guessed they just weren't going to be talking until Ikki got over it.

"So, I saw that boy in the neighborhood today, what's his name again? Ko, Kahn..." began her mother, making a slight wave with her chopsticks as she tried to remember. "Kai! That's his name. He's a friend of yours from school isn't he, Jinora?"

Jinora coughed, having nearly stabbed the back of her throat with her chopsticks. "Y-yeah. I know him."

"Kai? Kai Fong?" asked her father, raising an eyebrow. "In our neighborhood? What was he doing all the way out here?"

"I heard he has a girlfriend around here." said Ikki

"Yeah," chirped Meelo. "I've seen him out here a few times, but I never get to see which house he goes too."

"Hmph. Well, whoever are the parents of that poor girl must have their hands full. I've heard a lot about him from one of the new professors at the college who used to teach at the high school. Heard he loves to go around and be the cause of mischief. In fact, they even said he almost got arrested once for robbing a supermarket."

He was thirteen and hungry, thought Jinora bitterly as she pointedly kept her attention on her bowl of rice and tofu. You'd steal from a supermarket too if your so-called foster parents hadn't fed you properly all summer.

"Well, no child of mine is certainly going to get chummy with someone like that. He's in your grade Jinora. Try not to get too close to him, alright?"

"Okay." Jinora half-squeaked out. When she looked up, she caught Ikki staring at her strangely before turning away with a huff. Hopefully, that meant she was going to stop being so silly over those strawberries. The part of her that still felt bad made a mental note to buy her favorite desert next time they were out in town though.

-:-:-:-

"So, are your parents going out of town anytime soon again?" asked Kai from over the phone.

Jinora moved her cell from one ear to the other. She could just hear him grinning. "They don't take many vacations since my dad's always working at the university throughout the year, but they might take one in the spring. I'm not sure."

"Too bad. I'd love to have you all to myself in that great big house of yours again."

"My house isn't _that _big. It's just a two story."

"Still a whole lot bigger than mine. I live in a two bedroom apartment, remember? Besides, that's not the point. You. Me. Big house. Alone? I can barely hold your hand or even be next to you at school with all those people around. Having it just be the two of us all weekend was like a dream come true."

"Don't be naughty." she said in a more hushed tone, but there was no keeping the grin off of her face. It _had _been fun. "You know we almost got caught today."

"Yeah but...would it really have been that bad?"

"Yes." she said firmly. "Of course, it would have been. Do you really want _that _to be the first time you meet my parents? Because my dad may try, keyword try, to be more pacifistic in nature, but there are exceptions to every rule you know."

"I know, I know. It'd just be nice to spend more time with you like that."

"Even if they did know about us, I hardly think they'd allow us have the house to ourselves like that again. By the way, you're not getting your body wash back. My brother found it and I had to tell him that I accidentally bought the wrong one without realizing it. So, he's keeping it."

"Aw, man. I really liked that one too. Ah, well. I'll just buy another one I guess."

"Don't worry. I'll get you one before I head home tomorrow."

"No." she heard him say firmly. "I'll get it. Don't worry about it."

"Kai-"

"Babe, please?"

She sighed. "Fine. But if you start coming to school smelling then I'm going to buy it for you whether you like it or not."

"Relax, I live with two other guys. I don't think we could stand each other if we ended up completely running out of soap. Anyway, did I leave anything else there?"

"Just a couple shirts is all. I already put them in my bag so they're not accidentally found too. But I'm going to get off okay? I'm getting sleepy over here."

"Mm. Okay, I'll see you in the morning?"

"Mm-hmm. Please don't stay up too late? You know you're not a morning person and I'd actually like to see you before school. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until afterward."

"Anything for you. Sweet dreams, okay? I love you."

"I love you too. Good night."

She hung up and put the phone on the nightstand, but instead of crawling under the blankets, she got up and grabbed a simple, pale yellow journal from off her bookshelf. Sitting down at her desk, she took out a pen and began to write:

_Dear, Diary_

_ I cannot __believe__ how close we got to getting caught today. Mom and Dad came home early and I nearly had to to push Kai out the window just to make sure they didn't see him. He's getting restless though about us being such a huge secret since nobody knows we're dating except the two of us. He understands, but it's starting to get to him. I can't really blame him. Our one year anniversary is just next week and I'm going to have to really pull out a nice lie just to be able to go out on our date. It makes me feel bad that I've been lying to my parents so much, but my dad already doesn't like him and the two of them haven't even met. I don't think I could handle it if my dad told me I'd have to break up with him._

_ I really love Kai. You know that, diary? Everybody makes him out to be this criminal, but he's honestly not that bad and he's so sweet. So what if he's got a few piercings and tattoos? That doesn't make him a bad person. He just has his tongue pierced and his ears pierced a few times more than most guys do. Most of his tattoos are covered up too. Most of the time. Well, except that small one under his ear... he just has an appreciation for body art. That's not bad at all._

_ I don't want to let go of him just because he's not as well off as I am. Dad thinks "someone like him" would just drag me down, but I honestly think we pick each other up. Even if I've had to lie just to be with him, this last year has been one of the happiest I can remember. I think – I hope – he feels the same. _

_ I really do need to "study more" when my parents go out of town. If it gets everybody else out of the house and lets Kai and I be by ourselves again, why not? I'm in this far. You what they say about love and war._

_ Yours,_

_ Jinora_

Yawning, she laid her pen down and got up. Just a quick bathroom break and then it was off to bed for real, but when she came back, having left her door open, she could see a sliver of a shadow coming out of her room.

Did she leave her desk chair out in a weird angle or something?

She walked up to the door frame.

What she saw almost made her swallow her tongue.

Ikki, who'd been leaning over her desk where her diary still lay open, looked up. They stared at each other, frozen in their spots. Her face unreadable, Ikki whispered. "You're the girlfriend."

"W-what...?" asked Jinora, both terrified and somewhat dumbfounded that this was all happening right now.

"You're the girlfriend in the neighborhood."

Jinora gulped and began moving forward slowly, cautiously. "Ikki, look. I'm _really _sorry I ate your strawberries. I didn't mean it. I know you told me, but I didn't eat them on purpose. I mean, I did, but not knowingly. I'll do anything you want. Chores, homework, whatever. Just don-"

"DAD!"

Jinora lunged, but Ikki, smaller and faster, snatched the journal, leapt out of the way and out of the room. "NO! Ikki, wait!" she cried and tore after her.

"DAD! JINORA HAS A BOYFRIEND!"

"IKKI! Come here or I'll kill you you little-"

She followed the smaller girl downstairs, hoping that by some shrivel of a miracle she'd be able to grab the fast little snitch before it was too late, but by the time Jinora had chased her down the hall and ended up in the door frame of her father's study, all she could do was gasp and clasp a hand over her mouth as she witnessed Ikki holding the diary in her father's face.

Jinora swore she started to tremble as the rest of the world seemed to fall away from the pure terror that was crawling back into her heart.

She could already see the scarlet and purple hues coloring his crown.

"Jinora..." her father began in a very quiet, very dangerous tone. "What. Is this?"

* * *

><p>I tried not to write Ikki in this way that was too unreasonable. I thought about making it so that she told Tenzin about Kai and Jinora the next morning, but I figured she'd probably be over it by then. Right now, she's still mad and will probably regret it later, but sibling spite can be a very powerful thing when it's still burning.<p>

Thanks for reading, tune in for next chapter!


	2. The Tree

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>Bravery is only bravery if it's in the wake of fear.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Tree<strong>

* * *

><p>The only good thing about the disaster of last night was the fact that Ikki didn't get off scot-free.<p>

Their mother and father were none too pleased that she had blatantly disrespected someone's privacy like that let alone her own sister's and she'd been grounded for the next three weeks as a result. However, that didn't make things any easier on Jinora.

Her cherished well kept little secret had fallen apart in a matter of seconds and she had not been prepared to face it in any way, shape or form. When her father had thrown down her diary on his desk and demanded an explanation she couldn't even manage to form a coherent sentence before anxiety started to take over. The only thing that saved her from completely breaking down was her mother coming in to investigate what all the noise was about.

"So you've been dating this...this boy all this time?" her father asked almost incredulously.

Jinora nodded, her eyes stinging.

"Behind our backs? You've lied to be with him? Gone off on your own with him? And you even had him over here at the house when we trusted you?"

Again, she nodded, now fidgeting nervously with the hem of her nightshirt and letting out some sort of squeak that was supposed to be a response.

Tenzin frowned at her deeply, looking back at the diary page Ikki had shown him then back at her. "You're-" he began harshly.

"Jinora, you're father and I need to talk." said her mother, cutting across him.

"Pema-"

"She has school tomorrow, Tenzin. Let her get some sleep."

Not that she'd be able to.

Her father threw the diary at the corner of the desk nearest to her and gestured for her to take it. Jinora grabbed it cautiously, as if getting anywhere near her father would cause her to drop dead from the fear. When she still stood there, looking between her parents and fidgeting rather compulsively, her father looked up from holding the bridge of his nose. "Go."

She backed up and turned out the door, bowing her head all the way upstairs to keep her siblings from seeing the suppressed emotion probably trying to come through her face. She ignored the concerned inquiries of Rohan and Meelo and she certainly ignored Ikki who didn't seem to know what else to do with herself, but stare at the mess she'd caused. Jinora decided half-absentmindedly that if the two ever spoke again it'd be a miracle.

When she got upstairs and crawled under the sheets, she couldn't think straight with all the emotions broiling on inside of her.

There was shame. What was her father trying to say before? That she was a disappointment? A disgrace? Worse?

There was a weak, distant sense of anger. At Ikki. At her father. At herself.

There was anxiety. How could she have let this happen? Her parents would never trust her again and she had a feeling that this wasn't the end of the lies.

There was a deep, thin layer of relief. Her father hadn't read any other pages of her diary where some of the more... _private _things had been written out.

There was guilt. Kai had wanted to tell them a while ago. If she had listened, would this be happening the way it was right now? If she had told them from the beginning, by some skim chance would everything had been just peachy?

That night she dreamed of disparaging voices yelling at her through a darkness she couldn't get away from.

The next morning, breakfast was almost eerily silent. Only her mother seemed to have any sense of normality as she cooked a nice meal that would have been greeted heartily on any other day. Meelo and Rohan seemed to pick up on the tension and chose not to ruffle any feathers, sitting in a rather strange silence. Ikki had tried to approach Jinora earlier, but Jinora ignored her little sister outright. It may have been cold, but she didn't have any room inside of her to spare for forgiveness right now. Especially when she was still trying to process her own emotions.

Just as she had feared, her father's aura was as cold as ice. He didn't say good morning or even so much as look at Jinora when she came into the dining room. When she got up after her siblings and picked up her book bag, she weakly tried to talk to him.

"Dad..."

He didn't take his eyes away from his newspaper. "We'll discuss it later. Go to school."

She bit back tears and nodded miserably, only half hearing her mother wishing her a good day.

The day looked like she felt. Overcast, a little cold and she could already smell the rain. Walking to school slower than usual, she almost didn't care if she made it t on time and meeting Kai was the only thing that motivated her to actually even head in that direction.

Out of the way was a lone tree that stood near the center of a small forested like park. The park had been somewhat abandoned by the public ages ago and was just out of the way enough that it was almost always empty. Some people liked to joke that it was the place where bodies got dumped if nobody wanted them to be found, but neither she nor Kai had ever found such a thing. So, they kept going there.

She'd learned to associate the park with her most wonderful secrets. The likes of which only she, Kai and her diary had any business knowing. In the beginning of their relationship, that park was where they had been at their most vulnerable and where they had been their happiest. After a few months, they got bold and started sneaking over to each others places, but the park was always the perfect non-populated territory to meet up on a moment's notice. Apparently, it was also where Kai went sometimes when he decided to skip class.

Kai.

She thought of him as she leaned against the tree. Now, she was going to have to tell him what had happened. They were going to have to figure out what to do... if there was anything to figure out at all. The two of them had talked about it if this ever happened, but only a little. Was this it? Was this going to be their last time together at this tree that held so many memories of them?

Just thinking about it made her eyes water and a pressure start building up in her chest. She squeezed them shut and took to biting down on the knuckle of her index finger. The pressure inside was going to make her burst. Why did this have to happen? Why? _Why_? _WH-_

A hand clamped down on her wrist and she almost screamed.

"Hey, relax! It's just me!" said Kai when she jumped. His smile faltered. "... what's wrong?"

Jinora shook her head fervently, the tears threatening to spill over again. She was trying to get the words to form in her mouth, but they just weren't coming. Never the one to be stooped for words, this made her panic even more.

"Jinora..." he said and came around to be face to face with her, pulling her into a hug. "Babe, what's wrong? You're scaring me, did someone hurt you?"

She wrapped her arms around him and tried to speak, but her half words were only muffled against his leather jacket. He held her there for another minute, waiting patiently for her to say something when she was ready. The way he was rubbing her back gave her enough strength so that she could pull herself together for a second. Finally, she was able to croak out, "They know."

"What?" he asked, still not pulling out of their embrace.

"They- my parents- they know about us."

He almost stopped rubbing her back for a fraction of a silent stunned second.

"...how?"

She rested her cheek against his shoulder. "Ikki... found out and it's a long story, but she told my dad and my dad isn't speaking to me right now and I don't know what's going to happen or what I should do or what I shouldn't do-" her breathing started to become rapid again, her eyes stung, and she felt like she was on the verge of hyperventilating. "-and if we're going to have to break up or if they'll send me away if I don't and if this is the last time we're going to be like this or-"

"Jinora."

"-or if I'm just going to collapse right here and-

"Jinora!"

She felt him pull away abruptly, but instead he cupped her face in his hands and leaned down a little so that he was staring her straight in the eyes. "Right here. Focus right here."

Still breathing a little hard, she pursed her lips as a single tear fell.

"Do you love me?" he asked, wiping away the tear with his thumb.

"You know I do." she managed to breath out.

"Do you trust me?"

She nodded, starting to feel her heartbeat go down.

"Then you know that even if they did some crazy thing like send you away then I would just be right behind you."

"But you'd still have school..." she said weakly, reaching up a hand to his wrist and caressing the outside of his own with her thumb.

"And when has school ever really gotten in the way? You know I'd figure something out before letting you go over that. The only thing that can get between us is us... remember when we said that here?"

She nodded again.

They stood there in silence for a moment just staring at each other. She knew he was trying to show her how he felt and in response, she reached up her other hand to his other wrist. His eyes were always so comforting, warm and full of life. Now, they looked at her with a solemn understanding.

"... we both knew this was going to happen one day," he said quietly.

"I know..." she began breathlessly. "I'm just... I'm just really scared now."

"And that's the only time you can be brave."

That made her crack a smile.

"I can't believe you remembered that."

"Of course I remember it." he said, leaning in for a kiss. "You read it to me."

As brief as it was, his kiss melted away the panic inside. She had to breathe. Just breathe. Kai was right. This changed things, but it didn't change how they felt about each other. When he pulled away, he let go of her face and put his hands on her waist. "So uh..." he said, finally sounding a little nervous. "Should I, uh, come to your house tonight?"

Jinora shook her head. "No. I need to work things out with my dad first... but soon. It'll happen soon."

He smiled and took her hand, leading her away from the tree. "We should go. First period's going to start soon."

She raised an eyebrow, chuckling. "Since when did you care about making it to school on time?"

"Since I don't think you need anything else to worry about. Come on. I probably can hold your hand for at least another block before we have to split."

School that day went better than expected. Almost normal even. While Jinora still worried about how things we're going to go with her family, it was a great comfort to know that she wasn't going to lose Kai in the mix. She believed in his determination to be with her and in turn she strengthened her own resolve to be with him.

Of course, her father's opinion of it all still counted. After all, he was still her father and had always been there to support her. If he truly forbid them from seeing each other... well, she didn't know how things were going to get worked out. It still scared her. It downright terrified her, but she knew that her fear only meant that now it was time to be brave.

-:-:-:-

"Dad?"

Her father sat at the desk in his study, scribbling away on some poor student's paper he was surely grading. He didn't take his eyes away from his work when she came in. "Come in, Jinora. We need to talk."

"Dad, before you say anything," she walked into the room, trying to speak before her air of confidence was gone. "I know you're disappointed in me. I know that. But I love him. I love him so much. A-and I won't leave him just because you tell me to. It sounds really cliché, but he loves me too and we're staying together whether you like it or not."

"First of all," he began. "I am your father. You live in _my house _and I most certainly do have a say in what you may or may not do in _my house_."

"B-but... you've never even met him! How can you judge him withou-"

"_However,_" he spoke over her, putting his pen down rather forcefully."Your mother and I have discussed it. She's right. You're seventeen turning eighteen this year. We can't protect you forever... you need to learn how to deal with your own mistakes. Furthermore... you are right. I don't know him. On the other hand, I still don't like him. He is a thief and delinquent and not worthy of you quite frankly."

This was it. This was the wall she had been so terrified to face. Her father, like everyone else, thought Kai was a criminal. Well, they couldn't be more wrong and damn it all she was going to fight for her boyfriend's reputation in her own house.

"Daddy... please try to understand. Kai _used _to be a thief. Yes, he stole things he didn't need. Yes, he stole because he liked to do it. But it only started because he _had _to and it became a crutch for him. You have no idea what his life has been like and how much he's turned himself around. He hasn't stolen anything in _years_. Please. Give him a chance," she gulped nervously. "Kai was the one who wanted to meet you ages ago. _I _convinced him that it was better to keep things a secret. _I _was the one who was too scared to face you."

Her father sighed and turned to look at her in what seemed like forever. "Jinora... dear, you know I only want what's best for you. This boy... he's no good for you. You deserve someone who's going to put you first."

"Then that just shows how little you know about Kai because if you knew him at all you'd know I _am _his first priority. He says it all the time. He _proves _it all the time."

Her father said nothing as he now rubbed the bridge of his nose.

She continued.

"And... and he's _my _first priority," her father looked up at her sharply. She went on. "And I am _not _letting this go without a fight."

Sighing, her father began rubbing his temples. "I suppose... that even if I said no, I couldn't really stop you from going out of your way. You've proven that much," he said bitterly. Seemingly resigned, he frowned. "I want to meet this boy. I don't like him. I don't accept him. But I will take baby steps with this and I will..."

Her father almost rolled his eyes as he got out of his chair. "... I will allow it."

"Really?" she asked, her spirit soaring and falling all at the same time as relief and happiness battled for the greater spot in her heart. "You will?"

"For _now. _If he makes so much as takes a single step out of line – a single toe – this is over. Do you understand? I will not jeopardize your well being for him."

Jinora nodded, the nervousness starting to seep back into her veins, but she tried to suppress it.

He sighed for the umpteenth time that night and opened his arms. "Come here."

Smiling, she came forward and hugged her father.

"You know I only do this because I love you, right dear?"

"I know, Dad. I know. You'll see. He's the most wonderful boyfriend in the world."

"For his sake, he better be."

Jinora went to bed that night with at least some sense of peace. It was far from over, but the battle was won if not the war.

* * *

><p>I particularly like Tenzin and Jinora's talk because I wanted to show that Tenzin is barely allowing this. As it stands now, his "approval" is hanging by the slightest of threads and in all honesty he's only allowing it because he knows that saying no would only force Jinora to alienate herself and she's proven just how far she's willing to go. That's the last thing he wants.<p>

Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


	3. The Wait

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing. It is looking at the thorn and seeing the rose, looking at the night and seeing the day. Lovers are patient and know that the moon needs time to become full. <em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Wait<strong>

* * *

><p>"So... tell me again? If you're dad gave us the okay to be together then why are we still sneaking around?"<p>

Jinora sighed and laid her book against the trunk of the tree. It's not like her parents giving their okay on the relationship, for now as her father emphasized often, really fixed much. While her mother was actually quite supportive of it, her father basically treated the whole thing as a nuisance. Any mention of Kai in front of him made him look as if somebody had just viciously stamped on his toe. In the house, she had become quite protective of anything that had any evidence of her and Kai. Her diary was now safely locked up in her desk drawer and never left out in the open, her phone was with her at all times and her laptop now had a password protection on it. Most likely, her mother had a lot to do with her father being okay with all this added security. She'd been the least happy about Ikki invading someone's privacy so blatantly and was the one who really brought the hammer down on her sister's punishment.

Although he probably suspected it already, Jinora didn't want her father having any extended knowledge of just how far her relationship with Kai had progressed in the last year.

"Because you know he still doesn't like you. In fact, I think the only reason why he even allowed this is because he knows I'm just going to do it anyway. At least this way he can keep tabs on me."

His head comfortably in her lap, Kai made a face. "Which still confuses me. How is he supposed to keep tabs on you when right now he thinks you're at Meng-Meng's house?"

"He's not," she said. "My mom knows where I'm at and that's the only person who _does _need to know."

"Mm."

"Please don't be like that," she pleaded gently, running a hand through his hair. "You know why it has to be like this for now."

"I'm pretty sure you said the same thing on our six month anniversary, remember?" he sat up beside her against the tree.

She felt a pang of guilt. Of course he was still restless about all the secrecy. For him, it was probably starting to feel like he was her dirty little secret. While that wasn't true, what could she really say to make him understand that's not at all how it was? As much as she loved Kai, he could be rather stubborn at times. "I know. I'm sorry. I just... sweetheart..." she reached up to caress his cheek.

Smiling faintly, he leaned into her touch.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it, love. Anyway," he said, obviously trying to change the subject. "I'm thinking about another tattoo maybe. What do you think?"

"I think you should cool it for now. Just a little bit until everything settles?"

"Oh, c'mon. I'm just thinking about one more. Maybe on that spot on my back? Besides," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "I thought you always, y'know... _liked _my tattoos."

"You know I do," she said and turned her face up to kiss him. She _did _love his tattoos. He always took such care in selecting them and his preference for not making himself a human billboard also made her all the more attracted to them. His tattoos were always design oriented, chosen more artistically rather than haphazardly for the sake of it. She loved just being able to lay there and trace them with her fingers. He seemed to love it too.

Also, spirits, he just looked _good _in them.

In response, he leaned into her and their one kiss turned into a series of kisses that nearly had her laying down on the large roots of the tree. When he turned his attention to her neck, she sighed heavily.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" he asked, pulling back and looking down at her.

"No, no. It's just... I miss you."

He smiled at her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Well, I'm right here."

"No, I mean... I _miss _you," she said, tugging on the hem of his shirt.

"Oh... _oh,_" he put his hands on her waist and rolled them over so that she was the one looking down at him. "Well, you know I'm nearly always willing to fix that whenever you say the word, but you do remember that we just spent the past weekend at your house? Completely alone. Right?"

She grinned. "I remember very well. It's just..." her grin faltered. "Things are going to get so much harder now that my parents know about us. It's not going to be that easy anymore. My mom can't keep covering for us every time I want to get out of the house to come see you. It just makes me wonder how often I'll have you to myself like this. We already don't get that much time..."

"I know..." he sighed, not seeming to have a real answer to that one as well. "But we're just going to have to muddle through. It'll get better. That's what Bolin always tells me when I'm down."

She frowned. "You've been down lately?"

"No," he said quickly. "I mean, in general. You know how he is being cheerful and stuff."

"Kai, if you're upset about something you can tell me yo-"

"I'm _fine_. Look at you getting all worried about me," he grinned.

"Well, of course I worry about you."

"I'm alright. Really," he said reassuringly at seeing her probably unconvinced expression. "Speaking of time, it's getting late. We should probably get out of here."

They picked themselves off the ground and moved to leave the park. If they weren't in a hurry, it was always a habit of theirs to be slow about it when they had to go home. When they got to their designated split spot, Kai turned to her and planted a sweet kiss on her lips. "If we're going to be sneaky about it, next time we hang out let's just do it over at my place. It's starting to get cold out here."

"But what about Mako and Bolin?"

He smiled. "I know their work schedules so it'll be fine. By the way..."

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"So, when am I going to meet your parents? You _did _say that your dad "wanted to meet me, doesn't like me and doesn't accept me." I can deal with the last two, but if he has a specific time or date he wants to meet me then I have to get it cleared with old man Toza beforehand. He'll be pissed if I ask for a day off last minute."

"Oh... right. Um... how about our anniversary date, hm? That way we can keep the meeting short. Mom will probably do us a favor and move things along so we can go out."

"Mmm," he began, looking thoughtful. "I think that works. Spending as little time around your dad as possible is probably what's best for my health right now anyway."

"Oh, he won't hurt you. I don't think at least. But so, um..." she said, grinning and taking his hand. "Speaking of our anniversary-"

"I'm not telling you a thing," he grinned wickedly and brushed his nose against hers.

"Oh, why do you insist on surprising me? You know it's killing me!" she asked, placing both of her hands on either side of his face.

"Because you're going to love it," he smirked. "And you know that I live to get you all worked up like this. I have to go now though. The old man's expecting me in about twenty minutes."

"Alright. Be careful on your bike though. Do you, uh... need gas money?"

"No and you know I wouldn't accept it even if I did. So, it's kind of useless asking."

"Just once I wish you'd accept my help though..." she said with a sigh.

"Don't worry about me so much, babe. I'm alright. I got to go though, okay? Love you?" he smiled gently at her.

"I love you too. Careful on the road."

He squeezed her hand one last time and left. She watched him walk away and turn the corner before going in the opposite direction herself. After a few minutes, the roaring of a distant engine could be heard; it was probably his motorcycle riding off towards the downtown gym. The dying noise made her heart sink a little. It felt as if he was slipping away from her although they'd just reaffirmed their love again in the park.

But maybe that was why it bothered her so much.

How many times would they need to do that now that her parents knew about them? Now that her dad actively hated her boyfriend? Was she afraid of losing him now? She'd never been before. It wasn't because she felt like his feelings would change, but rather that something would come between them and force them apart. Would her father try to force her to go to school in some distant city? Or overseas in the Fire Nation? What was Kai going to do after high school? As much as she knew he wanted to go to school for his art, he certainly didn't have the money for it. Or, she bitterly noted, the grades for a scholarship.

Get a grip, Jinora, she thought soothingly. You're going to worry yourself to death.

This entire thing was giving her anxiety. Not as bad as when they'd first been exposed, but it'd still only been a week. She wasn't quite ready to just think everything was going to be perfectly okay now. Things were still changing and she could feel it in her bones.

-:-:-:-

That night, Jinora hadn't expected her mother to come visit her up in her room so suddenly. She could tell by the look on her face that this was a "we should discuss our current situation" talk rather than just an inquiry about school.

"Hi, mom... what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said her mother, taking a seat on the side of the bed. "I just think we should talk about everything that's happened.

Here we go, thought Jinora.

"Yeah?"

"Jinora, you and I haven't had a real chance to sit down and talk about what happened with us finding out about your relationship."

"Mom-"

"Please, honey. Just give me a second, okay? I think I do have a right to say something to you about this."

Jinora went silent and nodded.

"Well," her mother went on. "You know I'm supportive of you here. You've always been a good girl, responsible and hardly ever gave us any trouble before this. I know you're father's always been strict on you about your studies and quite frankly, I think you need to have some fun in your life. However, you know that I am disappointed in you for lying. And for so long. I wish you had opened up about this months earlier."

"I'm sorry, mom. It's just... you know why, don't you?" said Jinora.

"I know. I know very well. You're grandparents we're not at all happy when they found out that I was dating a man fifteen years older than me, but they eventually came to like your father. They saw him for who he really was."

"Who did they think we was?"

"A cradle robber. A creep. Those sort of things, but the point is that they came around... and your father will too."

"Psh. Yeah, right. That'll be the day," she scoffed.

"Jinora, your father is a stubborn man, I'll give you that, but he's only being like this-"

"Because he loves me, I know, I know. But mom, did you see me that night? I was ready to breakdown. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come in there. That's how scared I was."

Her mother put her hand over hers and squeezed it. "Your father will come around or he won't. There isn't much you can do to control that, but if Kai is the boy you say he is then it will all work out for the best. Until then, I leave things in your capable hands.

Jinora looked up. "Wait, what?"

"You're a big girl now, Jinora. I won't hover over your shoulder or keep you on lockdown. Like I said, I don't like the fact that you lied to us and that disappoints me, but what's done is done."

"So, that's it? You're just going to let me be?"

"I mean, I'm your mother. So, of course I'm always going to keep an eye on you, but I just need you to know that you're safe now. It really _will _be okay. I see you walking around here with this look on your face like you're going to break into a million pieces any second. Yes, your father is barely allowing this. No, he is not happy about your choice in a mate. But you_ have to let that go_."

Jinora looked down. Was she that transparent these days?

"Honey... you've always done what we asked you to do. Got good grades, been someone for your siblings to look up to, helped around the house, extracurricular activities, absolutely mounting yourself with extra credit assignments and, in the last year, all while having a secret boyfriend! You had to handle all of that with only Kai to really lean on because you're so worried about us disliking your choices. You're in your last year of high school. Next year, you'll be off to college. I'm just afraid for you being so nervous all the time. It's not good for your health. It may take a while, but your father will come around when he is good and ready. Please don't worry about that. Just do us both a favor and _live your life_. Everything else will fall into place. Be patient, but stop worrying so much while you're at it."

That left Jinora slightly speechless. Here she thought her mother had come up to scold her for lying about everything, but instead came to tell her something completely different. Has she really been _that _nervous these past few days? Well, perhaps that's why Kai kept on telling her to quit worrying about him. Not that he always didn't do that, but lately it felt as if she were juggling several things at once. The bad thing about it was that the school year had just started. Perhaps her mother was right. If her father didn't like Kai then that was his problem. She had enough things to worry about without his absolute approval in everything to top it all off.

Jinora leaned in and hugged her mother. She took a deep breath and exhaled for good measure. "I will, Mom. I promise. If I ever start feeling like it's too much, I'll just do those deep breathing exercises you taught me."

Her mother returned the hug and moved to leave. "That's good sweetheart. Thank you. It's all I ask."

When her mother left, Jinora looked up at the ceiling, feeling at least a little lighter than she had been earlier in the day. At least someone was definitely on her side. That was a load off. She would be lying if she said that all her worries were now one hundred percent gone although it had certainly made her a lot more self aware. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen, but at least now it gave her some sort of perspective on the situation.

Relax, Jinora, she thought as she drifted off to sleep. Just try to relax.

* * *

><p>And here we go! Another update! This chapter felt a little slower, but I guess that's why it's called "The Wait". It's more of a transition chapter about all the change that's going on in Jinora's life. When Pema comes in, it's not to ask Jinora all sorts of private questions about her relationship with Kai because Pema trusts Jinora's judgement and she understands perfectly what it's like to be in her shoes. What concerns her most is the stress Jinora's piling on her plate.<p>

Also, I promise I haven't forgotten Ikki. She and Jinora still aren't totally on speaking terms yet, but she'll be back. No worries about that loose end!

As always, tune in for next chapter! Leaving a review is always something that makes me very happy, but regardless, thank you for reading!


	4. The Calm

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>Oh, you blissfully unaware thing. Yes, relax. Grab that cup of coffee. You enjoy that peace while it lasts.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Calm<strong>

* * *

><p>His <em>motorcycle<em>. Of all the methods of transportation in the entire world, he chose to use his motorcycle to come and meet her parents with.

Jinora had both hands on the sides of her face as Kai drove up in front of her house. Sure, his motorcycle was actually kind of cool. Yes, she liked it. It was a part of what made him the bad boy. _Her _bad boy. It was indeed a very nice bike. Used and a little banged up, but still in great condition especially in Kai's care. As a present from Mako and Bolin on his sixteenth birthday, she knew how much it meant to him.

But this was not the day nor the occasion to be using it for.

She'd thought that being anymore nervous than she already had been was impossible, but apparently that was not, in fact, the case.

"C'mon, babe, don't look at me like that," he said as he took his helmet off. "You know this is my only ride."

"I could have picked you up. You could have taken the bus. _Anything_. But your motor-"

"Yes, my motorcycle. If you'd picked me up your dad would probably think I'm a freeloader and have yet another reason to hate me. As for the bus, I'd still have to walk quite a ways. The bus doesn't come all the way out into your neighborhood. Besides, have you _seen_ what they charge for the bus fare?"

She groaned, still rubbing her temples despite the fact that they were starting to feel sore. This was going to end terribly. She just knew it. How could she have thought this might be a good idea? Well, of course, it' not like they'd had a choice or anything, but spirits great and small this was goi-

"Look at me, love?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the feel of Kai's forehead against hers. Opening her eyes, she looked up and met his own tender green ones. She let out a whimper.

"Yes?"

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what again?" she said, wrapping her arms around him as he did the same.

"Panicking. It's written all over your face. Don't be so nervous. We've already talked about this," he pecked her on the lips. "You're not going to break up with me if your dad ends up hating me more than he already does, right?

She let out a sigh and rested her head against his chest. "Of course not."

"And the same goes for me. It won't change the way we feel about each other and we've even got your mom's support. It's going to work out," he held her in a tight hug and leaned her head back to look at him. "Okay?"

"...okay." she said, taking a deep breath and smiling. "At least one of us isn't nervous."

"How can I be with what today is? Oh, speaking of that..." he grinned and opened up his leather jacket to retrieve something. When he produced a book, she gasped. "Happy one year anniversary."

"Is that...?" she looked up to see hopeful eyes staring back at her. Gingerly, she took the book and opened it up to examine the first few pages. "Is this really a first edition of Lao Hai's book of poetry?"

"Yeah... I got lucky and found it on this bidding site. Someone needed the cash and wanted to sell it. I remember you talking about it so... I jumped at the chance."

"Well, I love it, but..."

"But what?" he asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"But I never thought I'd actually ever find one. Only a thousand copies of this edition were ever made. Kai, this is a rare book! It would probably cost you your entire-" something suddenly clicked in her brain. "Wait, is this why I haven't seen you eating lunch for the past month?"

"uh... erm, I'm a _little _strapped for cash, but it's not a big deal or anything. I'm fine," he said, digging his hands into his pockets. "Do you like it?"

She smiled. It'd be no use arguing with him about it. "I love it. I love it so much," she pressed the book up against her chest with one hand and used the other to bring his head down to kiss her. "Thank you."

"Only for you, babe," he said, taking her hand from behind his neck and kissing it too.

"Well..." she began, looking back at her house. "I have your present. It's in there. In my room."

"Ah, I see. We're going to have to go through the dragon's lair to get it, huh?" he laughed.

Grinning, she said, "That we are. You ready?"

"I should be asking you that," he squeezed her hand in his. "But yeah, let's go."

I think my heart's about to burst, she thought as they walked up to the front door hand in hand. Or stop. One of the two. Is it possible to do both? I suppose if it bursts...

"Focus, babe. Earth to Jinora."

"I _am _focused."

"Then do me a favor and stop trying to crush my fingers, please."

"Oh, sorry... do you _have_ to bring the helmet in?"

"Not that anyone in your neighborhood needs to steal anything, but Bolin got this for me from Ba Sing Se. I'll riot if it gets stolen. Now, I'll say it one last time, _relax. _If you get anymore nervous you're going to pass out."

He knocked on the door with the back of his hand that held his helmet. After a few agonizing moments, it opened to the person she had least hoped would answer it.

Her father stood at the door, stone faced and glaring at the two of them. That particular day hadn't been the best between Jinora and her father. It certainly hadn't been as bad as when he found out about her relationship in the first place, but knowing he had to meet the "criminal" who'd been running around with his daughter put the two of them on opposite sides for the day. They'd even almost had an argument about her father labeling Kai as a criminal until her mother had stepped in and put it to a halt.

"Daddy..." she began carefully. "This is Kai. Kai Fong. He's um... he's my boyfriend."

Saying those words had to be the most frightening and relieving things she'd ever say in her life. Her father didn't budge. She grinned and yet he still didn't budge.

"Uh... it's nice to meet you, sir," said Kai, letting go of her hand to reach out for a handshake. When her father didn't take it, he put it down, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah..."

She was about to break the ice and say something when her father pointed at her.

"You. In," he pointed to her and in the house. Then, he pointed to Kai and his current spot. "You. Stay."

"Da-"

"Now, please."

Jinora frowned and looked at Kai, trying to send him a reassuring look. "I'll be right back," she said quietly and followed her father into the house.

She winced at the slamming door. "Dad..."

"Why does he have so many earrings?"

"Da-"

"He has a tattoo on his _neck_," said her father, leaning against the door with one hand as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"It's just under his ear and it's not even that big. Really, not a big deal at all. Besides, y_ou _have tattoos!"

"_Cultural _tattoos. You know that these are a rite of passage for our people. My father bestowed these unto me. Many people don't even get them anymore, but you know I never pushed or forced them upon you four. Tattoos for the sake of them are different."

She scowled. "They're not for the sake of them! He gets them for reasons! And are you really going to completely write him off when you've barely spoken two words to him!? Because of a few tattoos!?"

"_A few?_"

"I-I mean, uh-"

"So, you're trying to tell me that you're... _friend _has more than one unnecessary tattoo, multiple unsightly piercings, oh, and I did saw that one in his mouth, and has a...a-a _mohawk _on his head?"

"Actually, it's an undercut!" called Kai from the other side of the door.

If looks could have killed, the poor door would have been in pieces via her father. Her father turned back to her, looking almost exhausted from fury and disbelief. "Is this _really _who you want to be with? A boy who obviously has no future?"

"You can tell all that by just looking at him for thirty seconds?"

"I've been around much longer than you have, young lady and I can see-"

"_Tenzin_."

Jinora's mother stood a few feet away from them, arms cross and expression even more cross. She frowned at her husband. "Honey, we talked about this."

"Pema, you haven't seen this boy. He-"

"I've seen him around the neighborhood and at the kid's school plenty enough. He seems like a nice boy. Didn't he come all this way just to meet us?"

Her father frowned, his beard shifting back and forth as he seemed to wrestle with that point. Jinora stood, now mimicking her mother's stance. Might as well look like the person who was obviously winning the argument.

"Fine," he grumbled almost inaudibly, deflating. "Let him in."

Jinora nodded affirmatively before turning to open the door. Kai stood there, hands dug into his pocked and eyebrows raised.

"So, uh..." he began tentatively. "Do I need to duck and cover or is it safe?"

"No, no!" Her mother came up beside her as her father grouchily retreated back to the living room. "I'm Mrs. Gyatso. Jinora's mother. It's so nice to meet you! Come in! It's chilly outside."

Kai grinned gratefully, letting her mother drag him into the house by the arm. Jinora followed, taking quiet deep breathes as they went into the living room. Frowning, she abruptly stopped at the sight of her gathered siblings. Meelo and Rohan were watching television, sure, but Ikki certainly had no business being there. In fact, they'd barely spoken to each other since the day she'd made a mess of things.

"Don't you have something else to do with yourself?" grumbled Jinora.

"No," said Ikki, scrunching her nose spitefully. "I can be here if I want."

Their mother sent her a meaningful look and she went silent.

Looking back at the commotion from his spot on the couch, Rohan pointed at Kai. "How come you have four earrings on one ear, but only two on the other?"

"Hm?" Kai blinked at him, "uh, I like asymmetry."

It was Rohan's turn to blink.

"Sweetheart," Jinora nudged him. "He's only 7."

"Oh, my bad. I mean that I like how it's uneven."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks," said Rohan, turning back around to the television.

"He's a cute kid," said Kai, nudging her back.

"He is, isn't he? I think he finds you interesting," she said quietly. "I'm going to go get your present, okay? You going to be alright down here by yourself?"

"As long as there are witnesses..." he said under his breath, daring to steal a glance at her glaring father.

"He won't hurt you," she said before trotting upstairs and to her room. It was in her old book bag nicely stashed away in her closet. The idea came to her when she spotted him sketching in the library one day. Pulling out a sleek, shiny brand new black laptop with the Future Industries logo labeled right on top of it, she smiled. He was going to argue at least a little bit. To be honest, she knew that when she'd bought it, but the one he had now was too old for all the digital art programs he liked to use. This, she hoped, would enable his creativity a bit more. She put it back, hoisted the bag onto her shoulder and headed back downstairs.

"...oh, so you create art?" she heard her mother ask.

"Mm-hmm," said Kai. "I do a lot of digital art. Character designs mostly, but I like to dabble in a few other things as well. Sometimes I'll do something for Jinora when it's been a rough day."

"Speaking of my daughter," her father began pointedly. "How long has this _affair _been going on?"

"Six months," she said quickly as she came up beside Kai, scowling at her father. Affair. Really, now?

Ikki bolted upright on the sofa. "Liar! It's been a year! It was in her diary!"

"Ikki, I'm goin-"

Her mother cut across her. "Ikki, go upstairs and finish the homework I know you haven't done yet."

Ikki made to make another comment, but one more good look at her mother and she was up the stairs in a flash.

Kai ducked his head, surely trying to hide a little smile on his face. One of these days, she knew, he was going to ask about that diary. Her father groaned, rubbing a spot over his brow with his hand.

"I'm too old for this. I need some tea."

"And on that note, we're going to head out," said Jinora, putting her arm in Kai's. The shorter they kept this meeting, the better.

"On that thing?" said her father, pointing at what she presumed was supposed to be Kai's bike. "No, I don't think so. Jinora, take the extra car."

"You mean..." Jinora blinked. Compared to the family one, the extra car didn't get used quite as much. It was there for emergencies, necessities and when more than one person needed to be in two different places at the same time. Despite the fact that she was of driving age and even knew how, she wasn't allowed to drive it without strict, practically written permission. "You're actually going to let me drive it?"

"I won't have you maimed on that monstrosity outside. So, yes. Just take it."

She felt Kai shift next to her. If there was anything he was a tad defensive about, it was his bike. He was probably resisting the urge to roll his eyes at this point.

"Oh," said her mother. "But you haven't even told us where you're going yet."

"Uh..." Jinora looked up at Kai. Actually, technically _she _didn't even know where they were supposed to be going. He hadn't given her so much as a hint as to where he was taking her for their most special of days.

He shrugged sheepishly. "Well, it's a surprise. I've kept it from her for a while already. I don't want to spoil it."

"Ah, I see. Is it safe?"

"Definitely. I wouldn't be taking her unless I knew it was one hundred percent safe. No worries, Mrs. Gyatso," he said. "I'll keep her out of trouble."

Jinora elbowed him playfully. Her father snorted as her mother beamed.

"Well, alright. I suppose it's okay since I assume you both have working cell phones," at that, both she and Kai brought their phones out of their pockets to show her. "In that case, I want you two to have fun-"

"No fun at all would be preferable actually-" her father mumbled, glaring daggers at Kai.

Her mother ignored him as they slowly headed towards the front door, Jinora grabbing the car keys on the way out. "Just be back by midnight, okay?"

"Midnight!? Woman, are you mad?" Her father gaped at her mother, almost flabbergasted. "Ten o' clock! Nine!"

Her mother sighed, ushering the young couple out the door. "Be safe you two. And don't forget, midnight!"

"Pema-!"

And she shut the door.

They stood rooted to their spot for a second. Finally, it was Kai that broke the silence.

"Yeah, he really hates me."

Jinora tugged at his arm in hers, urging him to come along with her as they slowly made their way to the car. "But he hated you just about as much as we thought he would. So, no surprises. But enough about that..." she said, putting her head against his shoulder. "Where _are _you taking me, anyway?"

"Oh, you'll see. I really think you're going to like it."

"Aww, can't you tell me now?"

"I could, but where's the fun in that?" he said, grinning.

She sighed dramatically. "Fine, but than means you drive."

"You sure? Your dad won't execute me for such an offense?"

"He won't know," she said, her mouth twitching into a smile."Besides, you kind of have to drive since I don't know where we're going. But no present until we get there if that's the case."

"Holding gifts hostage?" he asked, throwing his helmet into the backseat as they got into the car. "You're more devious than I thought."

"I guess you're rubbing off on me."

"I'd say something to that if I didn't feel like your dad secretly had a microphone out here."

The trip took them almost a half hour, but he drove her to a part of town she'd never really been to. It wasn't congested like the downtown district he lived in, but it wasn't like a lot of the places she was used to. Instead, it seemed more like a place for small businesses. Finally, they drove up to a building that reminded her of a little spa resort.

"Creator's Cafe'..." she read the sign then looked at him. "A coffee shop?"

"It used to be a little massage parlor that got turned into a cafe' by the owner. Aside from the main lounge area, they have all these little rooms upstairs and downstairs where you can reserve them for a period of time just to be by yourself. It's like a coffee shop for people who need time to think. And I thought..." he took the key out of the ignition then sat back with a sigh. "I thought it'd be nice for us just to do something normal, y'know? Just get coffee and be with each other. I mean, we hardly ever do _anything_ normal."

She smiled at him. "I know what you mean. The whole sneaking around thing is fun and all, but..."

"It's exhausting?"

"And nerve wracking..." she said. "You sure nobody's going to spot us in here though?"

"Nah. I've come here a few times already and I've never seen anyone even remotely familiar. But just to be safe I booked us one of the rooms upstairs. For privacy. C'mon, let's go inside. I made the reservation from eight to eleven."

When they walked inside, her nose was greeted with the scent of warm cinnamon. The walls were white with violet and grey accents across the room. Aside from the table, they had pillows piled in spacious corners, sheer curtains leading into smaller compartments and other little private nooks and crannies. What surprised her most pleasantly though were the literary quotes artfully painted on the walls. Most of them she recognized from lesser known novels she'd read in the past. It was all just so quaint; she immediately felt comfortable.

She tugged on Kai's arm, whispering, "We should come here more often."

"See?" he whispered back, grinning. "I knew you'd like it."

They walked up to a small desk at the side. He cleared his throat gently. "Hi, I have a reservation under Fong?"

The receptionist looked up above her glasses. "Fong? Yes, yes, we've been waiting for you. You're room's ready if you'd like to head upstairs. It's the one at the very end on the left. It'll have your name on it. Just to verify, it was the sauna room, right?"

"Right."

"Also, I trust you've read our conduct terms?"

He nodded.

"Very well, then. Off you go. It's yours until eleven pm on the dot."

As they began walking away from the desk and up the stairs, Jinora looked at him, puzzled. "Conduct?" she whispered.

He grinned slyly. "It's not a hotel and they clean these rooms after every reservation. In other words, no sex."

"Oh..." she said quietly. When they were out of earshot she playfully tugged on his jacket. "Well, that's no fun."

Taking the bait, he planted a kiss on her cheek. "If I have to return you by midnight then it's probably not a good idea anyway. You take a while to pull yourself together."

"P-please," she said, her cheeks going read against her will. "You must be confusing me with yourself."

"Ha! Is that so? Who was the one that said we needed to stop having those quickies before your Literature class, hmm? Oh and what was that you said about being three chapters behind because you couldn't see straight?"

"Oh, shut up," she pouted.

"Don't get me wrong..." he pulled his arm out of hers and put it around her waist, bringing her close enough to press their foreheads together. "You _do _drive me crazy. Sometimes I just can't handle how beautiful you are."

She giggled, putting her arms around his neck. "Now, _that _was very smooth. You're good at this."

"I try. Just for you," he buried his face in her neck and held her close to him.

"Hey now," she pulled back just enough to get a look at him. "Do you want your present or not?"

"I suppose," he said mock disappointedly. "If I must."

She hit him lightly on the chest before letting him lead her into the room that had his last name on it. They hadn't been kidding when they said sauna room. It was a small room, but cozy. The benches that circled it were covered in a sort of purple velvet material, pillows piled in every corner. The middle looked like there probably had been something there with all that space, but now it was just covered in nice plush carpet.

"So, it was actually a sauna?"

"Mm-hmm. Massage parlor and sauna house turned coffee shop. Neat, isn't it?"

She nodded, taking a seat against one of the pillows. "Speaking of coffee, do we just go down and get it?"

"Yeah, we go down and wait for it like a regular coffee shop, but I'll go get it. You have to try their pumpkin cinnamon latte. It's amazing, babe."

"Okay, I'll just make myself, y'know, comfortable..." she said with a coy smile, pulling him down by the arms of his jacket so he bent over and met her lips. Slowly and sensually she kissed him, pulling back only to breathe and show him the meaning in her eyes.

He visibly shuddered as she pulled away. "You're going to make this no sex thing really difficult, aren't you?"

Raising her eyebrows innocently now, she let him go and made a gesture for him to go and get their coffee. He wasn't the only one who knew how to get a reaction.

Sighing, he left. She put her bag down and began flipping through her new book casually, waiting for him to bring back these amazing pumpkin cinnamon drinks he liked so much. Hopefully, they'd be as good as he said. Pumpkin wasn't really her most favorite of flavors, but she did certainly like cinnamon.

-:-:-:-

Not only were the drinks amazing, but so was their time in that little coffee shop room. He loved his laptop, argued a little bit that it was too expensive for her to be spending on him, but he loved it all the same. She could tell that he beyond grateful. Now, he could take his art to a new level without having to worry about something overheating or crashing on him.

They lounged there, Jinora laid across a bench, reading passages of poetry. He liked it when she read to him. Something about her voice, he said, relaxed him. Sitting on the floor, he put his head back with his eyes closed, almost purring at the way she had her fingers running through his hair.

"You're starting to sound like a cat owl down there," she said, looking away from her book.

"Sorry. You know I like that scratching thing you do to my head. It feels really good."

"Yeah, well. It's too bad I can't make you feel good in other ways since it's our anniversary and all..."

She went to continue with her fingers in his hair, but instead found him now looking back at her . "Jinora... you do know that we don't have to do that just to show love to each other, right?"

"I know," she put her book down and laid her head on her arms. "After everything you've done to make me happy though it just seems... appropriate for today."

"Love... you don't owe me anything you know. To be honest, we could never have sex again and I'd still be happy as long as you'd let me hold you. We do it because it makes you feel good and I like making you feel good. I mean, yes, it's sex. But it's not _just _that. You're my best friend as well as my lover," he looked into her eyes now, shifted around enough so that he could brush her hair away from her face. "We have fun. We make love. _Just _sex sounds so impersonal. And... you don't deserve that. You should always have what's special."

She could have cried right there and then that was so beautiful. He spoke to her with such tender love and care that if she hadn't already been laying down then she probably would have collapsed right into his arms. Either her boyfriend had read her entire collection of romance novels or he had the biggest heart this side of the United Republic.

She was going to bet the latter.

Picking herself up and getting onto the floor with him, she put a hand on his chest. "Why are you such a walking sweet talking machine, hm?"

She kissed him, breathing him in and bringing her hand up to the side of his face. He brought his hand up her back and she deepened the kiss as if trying to give him all her love in that one gesture. Though only one of the many reasons, this was a prime example of why she loved him so much.

"I just can't see how my dad hates you so much," she said, pulling back.

"Well, if he ever caught wind of me saying anything like that to you he'd probably have me shot So, let's not repeat that while he's around, okay? I kind of like living."

She laughed, grabbing her book from off the bench and opening it to begin reading more passages.

"Don't worry. It's going to be okay."

All was well. How could it not be?

* * *

><p>And there we have it! Chapter 4!<p>

So, that end part I wanted to make a point. Since chapter 1, I've made hints at Kai and Jinora's sexual relationship and if you've read my prequel to this The Weekend (available on my profile) then I've done a lot more than hint. But just like Kai says in this chapter, it's not _just __sex. _It's more than that. I mean, they make love, but the love making is fun. The passion, the teasing, the indulging. It's all fun and just another way for them to show love to each other. What Kai was trying to say is that neither of them should ever feel like sex is an obligatory part of their relationship. They do it somewhat often (for them having a secret relationship) because making love to each other is something they both find enjoyable. Sure, passion can be hot and heavy and filled with emotion, but it's also fun to be passionate with the one you love. That's the point I wanted Kai to be trying to get across.

Reason why I'm saying all this is because there's a good chance I'm going to have a smut chapter in this fic sometime down the road, but I won't ambush you with that and I'll be letting you guys know in advance about that. Since I know that not all of you care too much for smut, I want to plan on making the smut it's own chapter and posting both that and the next chapter so that those who don't feel like/don't want to read the smut can just skip over it. But, like I always try to, there's going to be a point to that scene. I won't throw in some random smut scene for the sake of it just because. There will be an emotional basis and something trying to be expressed in said scene. I don't foresee in being too soon, but I wanted to give you guys my insight on the matter and I hope you guys will continue to stay tuned in the story when that time comes.

One more thing, that comment Tenzin made about cultural tattoos is going to come back and I tried to make it obvious that Tenzin is very bitter about this as when Pema goes to the door, he retreats and never actually truly talks to Kai (except for one time). Though he's bearing this for his daughter's happiness, the troubles aren't over for Tenzin and Jinora.

Also, yeah, you might be able to tell that next chapter is going to be eventful in some way just by the title.

With that, thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


	5. The Storm

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>Should you be afraid of the storm, you ask? Well, I suppose that depends on you, doesn't it?<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Storm<strong>

* * *

><p>The next two weeks after their anniversary pretty much saw Jinora's life go back to normal. Or as normal as it was going to be. Her father was actively antagonized by anything that had to do with Kai and that had seen some conflict between her and her father, but other than that, things felt a bit like how they were before her family learned of the big secret. It was even nice how her mother tried not to ask too many questions and did her best to keep her father from getting too totalitarian on the situation. The only thing that was strikingly different was the fact that she and Ikki were <em>still <em>not on very good speaking terms.

It was actually getting kind of ridiculous.

Normally, she would have gone to her little sister and settled things by now, but Ikki seemed to be just as mad at Jinora as Jinora was with her. Since Ikki didn't seem to feel sorry or even give any indication that she wanted to make up, then, neither did Jinora. Why should she? She hadn't been the one to read and expose secrets from a very _private _diary.

Kai, on the other hand, did not feel the same.

"I'm just _saying_," he said over the phone. "Don't you think it's been long enough? I mean, it's been like a month now. You're not usually one to hold a grudge."

"I'm not holding a grudge," she said simply, "She doesn't want to talk to me either. So, I'm just giving her what she wants."

"Come on, she's probably just waiting for you to extend the olive branch. Besides, your parents can't okay with this."

"I _have_. She just snubs me about it. And if she's going to be like that then why waste my energy?" she said stubbornly. "And no, they're not, but I think they're trying to give us the space we need to work it out ourselves. Us fighting isn't a new thing. It's just odd for it to be going on this long."

"I guess. I don't know, babe. It's just that when Mako, Bolin and I have arguments we'll stay mad for maybe a day or two then we'll talk about the problem. A month seems like a really long time to stay mad at your siblings for something like reading a diary."

"It wasn't _just _that she read my diary! It was that she _read my diary_, Kai! And then she exposed us! That's a complete violation of privacy! And from my sister? That's a bit of a betrayal for me since she knows that I know where she keeps hers _and _where she keeps the key at! What's more is that it was all over fruit! Thank Raava it was only to my family and not the whole world, but come on!"

"Fine, fine. I give up. I'm sure you guys will figure it out. It just sounds too awkward for too long. Especially when you live with her."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I'm exactly enjoying it. It feels weird not having her pester me a million times a day, but if she's going to be like this then I can too."

He yawned. "Alright, if that's how you feel. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and turn in. Bolin had me doing these crazy workouts he found online earlier and I'm beat. Meet you at the tree tomorrow?"

"Not in the morning. I actually have to go in early to talk to Mr. Yao about my Literature essay. But I'll meet you there after school?"

"Aww, no morning kiss? Alright, I'll see you then. I love you. Don't worry about it, okay? Things will work themselves out."

"I'm sure," she said, smiling. "I love you too. G'night."

"Night."

He hung up.

She laid back on her bed with a sigh. To be perfectly honest, things _were_ a little odd without Ikki talking to her. Sure, it's not like they were sitting down and chatting away most of the time anyhow, but having her little sister actively trying not to say _anything _to her was almost a bit sad.

On the other hand, Jinora was still a little bit mad at her too. The new found anxiety she'd been feeling as of late hadn't exactly dissipated as time went on. In fact, it seemed to have actually gotten worse. Her father's inherent dislike of her boyfriend had changed their relationship. She couldn't exactly explain it, but it definitely had. They didn't talk about it or mention it, but that incident had made her family life slightly more stressful. Although she always wished she could spend more time with Kai, nowadays there were times where she just wanted to go home with him and not to her own house.

Despite living with five other people, things were starting to feel kind of lonely at home.

Of course, it didn't help that most of her close friends were all older and steeped in more real world problems. Opal was buried in school work now that she was in her final years of college and, in turn, her Social Work degree. Asami was the very active CEO of Future Industries and Korra had gone back to school for Sports Therapy. Maybe one of these days they could all get together and just hang out. That'd be really nice.

She tucked her worries into the back of her mind to get some sleep that night, but couldn't shake off the feeling of them being there. Like a feather tickling her nose, she woke up every now and again to address them. The whole thing made for an unnerving rest.

The next morning, Jinora got up at six am sharp like normal. She showered and brushed her teeth. Ate breakfast and walked the same path to school. Fall had definitely arrived in Republic City, so, she pulled on a jacket over her long sleeved shirt and and a pair of fleece leggings under her skirt, but other than that it was the same type of morning she always had. Just like normal. Like every morning.

Everything stopped being normal during first period.

Nothing could have prepared her for the moment when Keun who sat behind her that day in History leaned forward in the middle of class and whispered in her ear.

"Hey, if I'd known that was your type I would have taken a shot myself."

Jinora frowned and turned around to give him a strange look.

"What?" she whispered back.

"Jinora, Keun," said Mrs. Mang, now crossing her arms and drumming her fingers on her arm. "If you two think you could conduct the lesson better yourselves why don't you come up here and talk to the rest of us instead of each other?"

"Sorry," murmured Jinora as she turned back around. Mrs. Mang snorted then went back to the board.

Type? She wondered. What did he mean by type?

Keun's comment hadn't stopped bothering by the time lunch came around. In fact, it only got worse as the day went on. People kept smiling and staring oddly at her. The girls giggled when they saw her. Even a few of the guys, many whom she often steered away from, were giving her looks that made her quite uncomfortable.

"You lucky girl, Jinora. Didn't know you had it in you," winked Devani as they passed each other in the halls.

Devani, who barely ever talked to her, or anybody who's family wasn't making a six figure salary for that matter, just paid her a compliment. On_ what _exactly? Whatever it was, it must have been something she wanted herself. Devani never paid anybody a compliment unless it was out of respect.

She then became downright alarmed when Kumi and Meng Meng came up to her table during lunch.

"Congratulations, Jinora. Don't listen to everybody. As long as you two are happy I think that's all that matters," said Kumi with a smile.

"Hmph," sniffed Meng Meng, pushing up her glasses with one finger. "You could do better, you know. Someone of a better _league _if you know what I mean? "

"Don't be rude, Meng Meng."

"It's true. You know he lives in that downtown district, don't you? Where all those gangs go running through? He's probably with one of them."

"That's mostly in the _dragon _district. Downtown isn't great, but it doesn't mean that he's in a-"

"What are you two talking about?" asked Jinora.

"Oh. I'm sorry, did we hear it wrong?" Kumi blinked. "You and Kai are kind of dating... or something... aren't you? Everybody's talking about it."

Jinora froze.

She swore to Raava, Vaatu and every great spirit in existence and morality that time stopped right there and then for at least a second.

What?

She was damn sure that she'd just lost her ability to blink.

_What?_

"I've... I've gotta..." she got up, making a weak wave the two puzzled girls and not even paying enough attention to pick up her lunch tray.

She was starting to _panic_.

"Please be there, please be there, please be there..."

She scurried down the halls. Right, left, right again.

Quite frankly, she could find her way to the library blind. Who was she kidding? She was practically was walking blind as it was. How could everybody had found out? There was no way he could have told anybody. He wouldn't. He knew good and well not to say anything to anybody. It had to have been another way.

The library was just about empty during this time of lunch. First month of school and no major tests yet meant low activity for studying. She walked past aisles in the front, in the back and any other place she could think of. Admittedly, her brain was overheating at the moment and if perhaps a whimper or two escaped throat then she barely noticed.

A hand suddenly clamped down on her elbow and pulled her into a back corner.

She and Kai were face to face. He was holding her gently by her elbows, seemingly both concerned and agitated by his expression.

"Did you tell anyone about us?" he asked quickly.

"No," she said, her voice now starting to croak at a high pitch. "Why?"

"Because I have had five guys ask me how you are in bed and the last guy was Skoochy so, of course, I nearly punched him."

"This can't be happening," she could feel her breath shortening, bringing her fingers to her forehead. "This can't be happening, how could this have happened? I can't believe-"

"Jinora, calm do-"

"I can't calm down! Somebody said something and I don't know wh-"

How could she have _not _seen it?

She took her hands away from her face, staring into space for a moment as it all came together in her head.

Who had started this mess in the first place?

"_Ikki_." she hissed, now close to seething.

How could she?

How _dare _she.

Jinora wasn't sure when was the last time she had been this mad – it wasn't often that she got very angry at all – but it had definitely been a long while since she'd seen red like this.

"Your sister?" asked Kai incredulously. "You sure?"

"She's the only person who both knew _and _had a motive! It had to have been her!" she almost cried. "Meelo and Rohan are too young and don't even go to our school yet. She's the only one unless my parents came down to the school and told everyone for kicks."

"Okay, okay. How about..." he seemed to be almost lost for words. "Forget about meeting me at the tree later. How about you go home and talk to her?"

"Oh, don't worry, I will."

"I mean it, babe. Just _talk _to her. If you can keep yourself from killing her. There must be an explanation."

"There better be."

Rubbing his neck, he let out a restless sigh. They were both probably thinking the same thing.

This was going to be a long day.

-:-:-:-

Ikki's lack of appearances around school only enhanced her guilt in Jinora's eyes. It was as if her little sister was purposefully avoiding her. She hadn't seen her all day. Not on her way to class, not after school and not on the way home from school. Nowhere was Ikki to be found.

When she got home, Jinora threw her bag on the couch and stalked into the kitchen. Only her mother was there.

"Oh, hi sweetie," noticing her mood, her mother frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Ikki?"

"Upstairs. Jinora, are you okay?"

"Just fine," she growled and stormed upstairs, practically skipping steps on her way up. Her anger was mounting as she crossed the hall and down to her little sister's room. By the time she got there she might has well have been a heaping, walking pile of smoke.

"_I. Cannot. Believe you!_" she shouted, bursting in the room with such force that the door hit the wall and she had to catch it to keep from hitting herself.

Ikki, seemingly expecting this, jumped back and now had her hands up defensively. "I-I-I didn't mean it this time! It was an accident!" she cried. "I swear!"

"_Accident!? You call telling the whole school about my relationship when you specifically knew not to an ACCIDENT!?_" Jinora was getting louder at this point, but she didn't care. She'd had it with Ikki's attitude and secret ruining tantrums.

"It was! I swear it was an accident! You got to believe me, sis!"

"_Oh, don't go sissing at me now! You've barely spoken to me for a month and now you can't wiggle your way out of this just because I'm yelling at you! Do you have any idea what happened to me today!?_"

"_What _is going on up here?" their mother stood at the door "Jinora, why are you shouting? You tell me what's wrong right this instant."

"She told everyone!" cried Jinora, gesturing harshly to Ikki. "About me and Kai! She went to school and told everyone!"

"Ikki, why would you do that? That wasn't yours to tell." asked her mother disbelievingly.

"It was an _accident, _mom! Really it was!" Ikki moved away from her bed so that she was standing across Jinora, but a little closer to their mother now.

"Yeah, right! I don't know how you would do that by accident!"

"Hang on, Jinora. How did this happen?"

"I was just a little frustrated today with everything that's been doing on in the house with Jinora and dad and me and I was just venting to one of my friends about it in the bathroom and it just kind of... slipped...out..." said Ikki, nervously playing with her fingers. "But I don't know how it got around because I told her not to say anything and she gave me her word! I can trust her! She'd never tell anyone!"

"Was it Yuma?" asked their mother, now looking a bit like their father the way she was rubbing her temple.

Ikki nodded.

"...I believe you. Yuma doesn't seem like the type to go blabbing about things like that."

"But mom, that still doesn't explain how everybody found out!" said Jinora.

"Is it possible somebody might have just overheard it?"

"There was nobody in there but us..." said Ikki.

"Maybe passing by the door?" suggested their mother.

Ikki went silent. Jinroa groaned. Both sisters knew that was entirely possible. The acoustics in the bathrooms weren't bad at all and if it was a quiet enough hallway while someone was walking by then they could pick up every word of a conversation.

"It can't be helped," said their mother finally, turning to look at Jinora. "Cat's out of the bag, sweetie."

"What? That's it!? Mom, that's just not fair! _She-_" Jinora pointed at Ikki. "Has made my life so much harder now because of this! People won't stop bothering me now at school! Especially the boys! I can't go anywhere without someone making some _remark _about Kai to me! It's ridiculous!"

"This _she _is your sister. Who did not mean it. She can't take it back otherwise she would," said their mother firmly. She turned to Ikki. "But Ikki, you should have known better than to just go discussing that type of stuff with just anyone for that very reason."

"Oh, now I can't go talk about how I feel with my friends?" snapped Ikki.

"_Don't _take that tone with me, young lady. Or I _will _ground you again so help me Raava."

"Me!?"

"Yes, you!" spat Jinora.

Ikki started turning a shade of red.

"You know what? It's always like this! _You _were the one who was _FUCKING YOUR BOYFRIEND-_" she practically screamed in Jinora's face. "-all over the house while we were gone and I'm _still _the one who's being punished!"

"_Ikki Gyatso!" _their mother shouted now. "We _do not _use that language in this house!"

"But you know it's true! You know it is!" Ikki shouted back, eyes overbright. "She could be pregnant right now and I'd still be the one punished for that! She chose not to get her tattoos and I'm still the one that gets punished for that too!"

"Me choosing not to get my tattoos has _nothing _to do with this or you! I chose not to! Simple as that!" bellowed Jinora.

"That's even worse because it's like saying you're too good for them! You've been able to get them for years and just decided they're not worth it!? What!? You don't want to be _too _much of dad's perfect princess!?"

"_That's ENOUGH!_"

They both looked at their mother who was rubbing the bridge of her nose at this point. "You both are incredibly lucky that your father isn't home yet. Jinora, go to your room. I'm going to talk to Ikki then I'll be there with you shortly."

"But-"

"Right now."

She left in a huff, only vaguely hearing Ikki's crying responses as their mother closed the door. Back in her room, she checked her phone. Kai had texted her, asking, _How did it go? _

She texted back. _About as bad as it could have gone. _

Shortly after, her mother came into the room and sat down on her bed wordlessly. She was silent for a moment before sighing and finally speaking.

"First, we need to establish some things. I am going to trust that you are not pregnant?"

"No," said Jinora, shaking her head.

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Positive."

"Good, we'll have that entire discussion on a different night. Next thing. Ikki was right," Jinora looked up at the mother sharply. The older woman held up a hand. "Wait before you speak. Ikki is right. Jinora, I should have punished you that night. For a _year's_ worth of lying. We've always taught you to be honest, but you lied to us for a straight year. But I understood where you were coming from and I was worried for you and your health. The reason why I say that _I _should have punished you is because your father wanted to put you on complete lockdown and never let you leave the house, but I convinced him otherwise because I knew... I _knew _he was going to make this hard for you and I was so worried about you that night. You looked like your were going to have a breakdown.

"So, let's get that straight. And the only reason why I'm not punishing you for what you did tonight is because I'm not punishing your sister for her mouth. But let me say that if I had decided to then you were going to share in that time as well."

Her knees drawn up to her chest, Jinora lifted her chin off her legs. "But I-"

"Do you honestly believe your sister deserved that? To have you burst into her room like that and scare her so bad that you had her backed up against her bed? To just go in there and practically attack her like that? Now, she's over in her room a weeping mess over all the shouting you two did and all the bad feelings that got brought up. Sweetie, you're seventeen years old and I've rarely seen you that mad before. Jinora... you _terrified _your sister tonight."

The more her mother kept talking, the worse Jinora felt. Now that her head was clear and she'd calmed down a bit, she could see Ikki's teary eyes and pleading face as she'd been trying to convince her of the truth and screaming at her after her feelings had been hurt. A heavy lead like weight settled in her chest.

Spirits... she was a miserable excuse for an older sister.

Her mother patted her knee. "I think you know this, but you owe your sister an apology. You know she's not going to be ready to hear it for a good while, but when she is... please make up with her, okay? Your father and I have tried to let you work this out yourselves as best you can, but we hate seeing you two fight like this."

"I will. I promise," murmured Jinora gloomily.

When her mother left, she sighed heavily, laying against her pillows.

What else could go wrong?

* * *

><p>Because great lies are going to have great consequences :P<p>

Here we go! Another chapter!

I hope how Jinora's normally viewed at school is really starting to show now. The way she's viewed at school is somewhat similar to the way she's sometimes viewed at home and they kind of correlate although they are inherently different.

This chapter was fun to write, but I also hope that it showed how Jinora's got to face her consequences now. I'm trying to work from the inside out (internal to external influences/issues/consequences). _Both _she and Kai have a great sense of accountability of their lying. While Jinora was more or less the one who really wanted/did spin the lies, Kai still definitely had a very willing part in them. They're both going to pay for that in different ways individually. Kai's is going to play more into his background (which I'm so excited to write about guys). Secret lovers is fun and all (I'm really only down with it when there's nothing morally actually wrong with the relationship. I.e. they're both uncommitted people except to each other like Romeo and Juliet persay), but you better be ready when the bubble bursts because damn is it going to burst whether you're prepared or not.

Anyway, I really hoped you liked this chapter!

Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


	6. The Story

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>Everybody has a story to tell. Everybody. Even the people who don't want to tell theirs. Especially the people who can't tell theirs.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Story<strong>

* * *

><p>If things at home weren't sad enough for Jinora then they were now.<p>

The fight with Ikki had gotten back to her father as she knew it would and he hadn't been the least bit happy about it. Of course, he blamed Kai. In his mind, "that boy was making a mess of things" as "he knew he would". Her mother was able to reign him in before another argument started, but things were getting tense with her father. It wasn't in the same way it had been with Ikki where things were just awkward, but instead, it was as if she always felt like something was about to break. He was more critical of her now, wanted to know exactly when and what homework she was supposed to be working on, looking over the mistakes on already graded assignments with an extra scrutinizing eye and seemed to think she spent far too much time outside of the house and not enough time studying. Thank the spirits for her mother, otherwise, Jinora might have forgotten what it was like to have a life.

School was certainly no better. Neither she nor Kai had been able to really decide what to do in the past few days. It hadn't even been a week yet since the secret got out, but Jinora was suddenly being approached by guys who had never spoken to her before. It all made Kai very grumpy when she mentioned it to him. As he explained it, some guys seemed to think that she'd somehow "lowered her standards" and was now, therefore, fair game.

"Well, nobody really _knows_ that we're dating. I think a lot of people have assumed we're just, y'know... body buddies," he said bitterly, his back against the trunk of the tree and forearms draped over his knees.

"I figured," muttered Jinora. "I get girls trying to stop me to ask questions about you. Very, erm, _personal _questions."

"Believe me. I'm getting those too," he said, closing his eyes as if praying for patience. "I hate it."

She grabbed his hand and smiled. "Just ignore them. You know how nosy people can get."

"We can't ignore them forever," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "When are we going to tell everyone?"

Her smile faltered and she must of blanched because he let out a grunt of annoyance and slipped his hand out of hers, looking away. Of course he was upset that she didn't want to say anything yet. Or even _when _she wanted to say anything... if she did. She'd already explained to him that everything going on at home was making it hard for her to deal with anything but how to handle Ikki and her father at the moment. He could and did accept that. That did not mean he was happy about it.

She felt selfish for doing this to him. He'd accepted it for so long and now she was asking him to just hang out for a while longer until she could figure out when the time was right. The only problem was that they both knew that "when" was a very big "if"as it had always been.

But he just had to understand.

"Love..." she put a finger under his chin to gently bring his face back around. "It's just not the right time. It will be though."

"When?" he asked, his eyes on hers now.

"I... when... Sweetheart-"

"You don't know," he said, standing up and running a hand through his hair impatiently.

"Kai, I can't deal with everybody at home and at school at the same time! I'm sorry!" she stood up with him now.

He turned around, frowning. "Then what are we going to do? We can't deflect questions forever. I know I can't. I'm going to get arrested before then."

"What are you talking about?"

"What am I-? Jinora, I don't know about you, but it burns the living chi out of me not to be able to just tell some of these guys 'It's none of your damn business she's _my_ girlfriend.'"

She turned away from him, her face in her hands. "Ugh, Kai, now is not the time for you to get possessive!"

"It's not being possessive!" he cried, exasperated. "That's what people in relationships do when other people ask you filthy questions they know they shouldn't! But, then again, they probably don't know they shouldn't because a lot of people think we're just sleeping together! Jinora, that's really telling about how the world sees us right now!"

"Why do you care so much about what they say!? You never did before!" she said, still turned away from him.

"_I'm_ the one who should be asking _you_ that!"

Sighing restlessly, she pushed her hands up into her hair.

"It doesn't _bother _you that people will harass us night and day? That doesn't bother you at all?"

"Jinora, if I had a yuan for every time someone called me a street rat I'd be richer than you are. I'm just old enough now that it's not fun for most people anymore. So, no. It doesn't. But it obviously bothers you a lot. In fact, you act as if your life depends on it!"

She had no answer to that.

"... what are we going to do...?" he asked. "You know I won't do anything without your okay on this."

There was a moment of silence between them. She brushed her hair out of her face, looking at the ground, desperately thinking of an answer. The main problem in all of this was that she didn't want to say anything to anybody yet. How could she get out of this without hurting him? It made her feel so selfish, but damn it all she could not handle trying to please everyone. Her father, her sister, her mother, her boyfriend... if everybody else knew would she be adding the entire school on her shoulders as well? That was something she didn't want to find out.

"We can just deny it," she said hopefully, turning back around and bracing her hands on his torso.

He looked at her for a second with a stunned expression that slowly morphed into something like disbelief and almost annoyance.

"...are you serious?" he asked her so quietly that it was nearly a whisper.

She could feel her eyes stinging and hear the croaking in her voice. "Kai...I don't kn... I..."

Unable to get the words out, she bit her lip and looked down. Was this all she could muster up? Was this the only answer she could give him?

"It's fine."

She looked up at him just in time to feel his kiss on her forehead.

"W-what?" she blinked.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," he pulled back. The look in his eyes wasn't the same tender one he always had when he said that to her. Instead, he looked very tired and even a little bit sad.

"No, it's not fine! I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do."

"Don't do anything," he said, taking her by the hand. "C'mon. It's late. Let's go home."

"Kai-"

"Really, it's fine. Let's just go home, okay?" he smiled at her, but it had to be the fakest smile she'd ever seen on him.

He was most certainly not fine.

The next day, it was as if nothing was wrong with him. At least that was how he was acting anyway although she knew him far better than that. To everyone else, he was just in a really good mood, but she could see the way he was forcing himself to be happy. Kai was by no means a grumpy individual, but his mood was fairly even tempered with most people and he only let loose around those he considered friends or closer. This version of him, who seemed to be happy with whoever came by to talk to him, wasn't genuine at all.

It almost made her upset to talk to him like that. Why was he being like this? Was he mocking her or was he just trying to make a point? Deep down she knew he'd never do anything like that to hurt her for the sake of it, but she just couldn't figure out where he was getting at with this fake demeanor of his. When she tried to talk to him about it at lunch in the library, he easily evaded her and changed subjects. She didn't try to push it and start an argument, however, by the end of the day she was not only fed up, but worried. That evening, they didn't hang out like they usually did. Instead, she went home with the excuse that she had homework, but by the look on his face they both seemed to know that she was just saying that.

What worried her most wasn't the fake happiness though, but the sad look he had in his eyes all day. Behind the smiling and the laughing she could see it. It was a type of sadness she'd only seen in him a few times before, but whatever the case, it made her feel sick inside.

It was as if she was feeling what he was probably feeling and that, in turn, only made it worse.

It made her feel all the more guilty.

-:-:-:-

"I just don't get it, Mom" said Jinora, frustrated. She ended her slicing of one cucumber with a bit more vigor than she probably should have and moved on to the next. "I just don't understand why he's so _stuck _on it. I mean, I do get it, but I don't. He knows everyone is just going to be in our business. He was fine with everything six months ago. Why does he want to change things so badly now?"

Her mother came around the kitchen island with another plate of vegetables for her to chop, but put a hand on her daughter's wrist first. "We don't want your blood with our food, dear. Slow down. I like you with all your fingers on."

Jinora almost cracked a smile. "Sorry, I'm just... I don't know-"

"Frustrated?" suggested her mother, turning around to pour vegetables into a steaming pot.

"Very. You should have seen him today," said Jinora, making a quick wave with her knife before going back to slicing. "He's acting like he's just fine. Happy even. It's not like he's not a grouch or anything, but it was _weird _how happy he was today. Of course, I know he's not happy, but that's what makes it weird and I don't know what he's getting at."

She sighed heavily.

Her mother came back beside her, taking already sliced vegetables and putting them onto plate. "So, he's not happy?"

"Not at all. I know that he's upset that I told him we could just deny everything when people ask questions and he's been weird about it ever since."

"So, what your saying is that he's unhappy," said her mother, turning back to the pot.

"Well, yeah, that's what I mean. He's unhappy and he's acting like he's the opposite."

Her mother turned back and was next to her again. "Dear, it sounds like he's just acting like he's happy because he wants to make you happy. Sacrificing his wants and needs for yours."

"I know," groaned Jinora, still slicing. "And I know he's just selfless like that and I love him for it, but I hate it at the same time. At least in this context. He was fine with the secrecy for at least six months into our relationship. Now that you guys know, why does he care about everyone else? He's never been one to care about other people's opinions. I just wish I knew why it's such a big deal to him now when it wasn't before..."

For a minute, only the sound of the boiling pot and the knife slicing through to meet wood could be heard. Then, her mother came up beside her, but didn't take any vegetables this time.

"Sweetie, I'm going to ask you a question..." she began quietly. "And I promise that what you tell me will stay between us and only us. Not even your father will know."

"Um... uh... okay."

Where was her mother going with this exactly?

"Sweetie, has... has Kai ever been abandoned?"

Jinora froze, the sounds of her slicing silenced.

Her mother grimaced. "I know that he lives with Korra's boyfriend and his brother," she spoke slowly. "Knowing that, I can assume that he probably doesn't have parents. And by the way you stopped slicing those cucumbers, I'm right, aren't I?"

Damn, why did her mother have to be so intuitive? Jinora could swear she started sweating a little. Besides Mako and Bolin, she was the only person Kai had ever spoken to about that. It didn't seem to be something he exactly made forbidden information. People knew he didn't have parents. It just wasn't something he really cared to talk about and she tried not to bring it up when she didn't have to.

On the other hand... she could trust her mother and her mother wouldn't judge him for it. If there was anybody Kai would be okay with her telling it would be her mother. He seemed to think highly of her.

"I won't push it. If you don't want to tell me it's okay."

Jinora bit down on the inside of her cheek as she thought about it. This information would never leave the house or even her mother's lips for that matter. Plus, they were bound to find out sooner or later the more Kai spent time around her family.

"K-kai likes you a lot. And... as long as it definitely stays between us then I'll tell you."

"Of course."

Jinora took a deep breath.

"His," she swallowed hard, looking down. "His mom. His mom, uh... his mom left him in the park when he was four and never came back."

"...that's terrible," her mother whispered. "I take it he's never known his father?"

Jinora shook her head.

Silence sat between them for a moment as if her mother was trying to figure out how to get the words out of her mouth.

"I'm no psychologist, but this..." her mother began, pursing her lips in thought. "This seems like it has everything to do with you, but nothing to do with you at all."

Jinora frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Everybody has their own insecurities," replied her mother.

"I'm still not really following..." said Jinora, both nervous and unsure of where this was going.

"Sweetie... people who have been abandoned often times have other issues... like feeling unwanted," her mother said carefully, moving her hands around in an awkward manner. "I don't think it's the secrecy that's the problem for him. You've both proven that it's kind of fun for you. What it is, I think, is that you telling the world about the two of you is like the ultimate reassurance for him."

"Reassurance of _what_?"

Her mother grimaced again. "That you won't leave him."

It took a second for that one to register in her brain. Jinora stood there, now slightly stunned. Leave him?

"Wait, so this it why he was acting so weird today? That's never even crossed my mind though! I would never-"

"But honey, you have to understand... he's _scared_ and this is how he's dealing with it. For a four year old child with only one parent, can you imagine what it must be like for that parent to just dump you somewhere?" asked her mother. "I can see that he loves you. He loves you a lot... if you were him, wouldn't you do anything to keep your world from falling apart twice as well?"

Jinora looked down. She had never even thought of that. Or, at least, she had tried not to think about it too much. It was such an unpleasant topic for him, she never wanted to risk bringing it up. "So... he thinks that I'm going to do what she did to him?"

Her mother nodded sadly. "I doubt he exactly _knows_, but somewhere deep down he probably has this idea that you not telling everyone means that your just biding your time until you get tired of him and _don't want him anymore_. Of course, and I know it sounds like something you'd read about in a novel, but he's only feeling this way because you mean so much to him."

Jinora put her knife down and hung her head with yet another sigh. She put face in her hands, groaning miserably. How could she not have _seen _that?

"I can't believe I needed that spelled out for me," she said, tired at this point. "It was so obvious. I know all these things about him and I couldn't see that."

"It's not your fault, honey," her mother said consolingly. "I'm sure it's not something he's out there broadcasting or anything."

"No, but still," said Jinora. She turned to her mother. "How do you know these things, Mom? I mean, I'm his girlfriend and I didn't even think about that."

Her mother smiled. "You know how I used to work at the university daycare, right? As my first job when I moved to Republic City?"

Jinora nodded.

"Well, a lot of those kids I looked after had single parents, parents that were divorced, parents that always left them there for an hour or two longer than they should have, parents that left them there all day long... some of those kids even had, three, four, sometimes five other siblings who didn't get left behind the same way they did for one reason or another. The thing is, you start seeing how all of that, well, _shapes _the children. How it makes them and what it does to them. You see, it doesn't take much make someone feel less than they really are. After a while, you start seeing it in people who are older as well. You can read a person's story just by looking at what they do now. Kai's not exactly an open book, but in my eyes he's telling his story pretty well."

"That's... that's kind of amazing. A little sad, but still amazing."

"It's useful," said her mother. "Helps with social problem solving."

Jinora smiled. "Well, maybe one day I'll learn how to be like that," she wrapped her arms around her mother. "Thanks, Mom. For everything. I've really needed you lately."

Her mother returned the hug. "You know I'm always here when you need me, dear."

-:-:-:-

Where was he?

It was still the busiest time after school. The buses hadn't left yet and people were still swarming out the building. He was usually already headed off to meet her at the tree or something by now.

Jinora stood by where her boyfriend's motorcycle was parked. She fidgeted, looking around, partially impatient, but mostly anxious. She hoped the crowd wouldn't thin out too much before he got outside.

Then she saw him. He was yawning, walking to where she was without realizing she was there. When he spotted her, he frowned and strode over to her, trying to pull her into a more secluded corner, but she stayed rooted to the spot.

"What's wrong?" asked Kai, eyebrows knitted together in worry. "Are you okay?"

All Jinora could manage was a quick nod before grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and bringing his lips down on hers. After a moment, he seemed to realize what was happening and pulled back.

"What are you doing?" he asked, eyes wide.

Getting closer to him, she put a hand on the side of his face then let it down to rest on his chest. She smiled up at him and said quietly, "I don't care if you don't."

He stared at her for a second, blinking, before a grin slowly crept onto his face. He wrapped his arms wholly around her as she did the same and kissed her with all his might. Putting one arm around his neck, she rested the other on one of his that held her.

They ignored every single cry and whistle that called out to them.

* * *

><p>Another chapter down and Pema to the rescue one more time! :D<p>

Pema honestly doesn't get that much screen time and for some reason she just naturally fits into a lot of the problem solving Jinora goes through in the beginning here. So, I hope you guys don't mind so much of her.

I was going to put in a quick dialogue where Jinora told Kai that she told her mother about his mom and everything, but it didn't quite fit so I guess I'll try to plug it into next chapter.

I don't have much to say after this chapter to be honest. Kai's past has been something I've been wanting to introduce for a while because it says a lot about him and how his personal consequences are going to affect _him. _

Kai and Jinora both have their own issues and this chapter hopefully shed a little light on them. Jinora's were put in a tad more subtle than Kai's since I literally spelled it out, but I thought it was important because this is not the last you'll hear of them. Not my a long shot ;)

On side note, someone asked about Kai's tattoos and if you go to my tumblr blog (Kuno-chan) then you can see my character design for him (tattoos included) under "My Art"!

As always, I really love it when you guys drop those reviews in as they keep me motivated to write (even if you're just pointing out something or asking a question)! Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


	7. The Drop

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>They say that persons are fine, but people as a whole are bad news. However, on occasion, you'll find that one individual who is a glaring exception to that rule.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Drop<strong>

* * *

><p>"So, you hear about Jinora and Kai?"<p>

"Jinora and Kai? Haven't they been hopping around in bed for like a year?"

"No, no! They've been together! You know, in secret!"

"Like forbidden lovers? Oh, that is _so _romantic."

For once, Jinora had to admit that she loved being the talk of the town. So to speak. Normally when people were spouting on about her it made her want to go hide in a corner for one reason or another, but not right now. Right now she was more than happy to tell people that, yes, she was indeed dating Kai Fong.

The whole school seemed to know by now or had at least mostly figured it out. She was still being approached by boys whose interest in her had peaked once everybody found out that she and Kai were dating, but now she could confidently tell them that she had a boyfriend. That in and of itself was extremely refreshing.

However, all of this seemed to have had the greater impact on Kai. She swore he was the happiest person in the world now. He swept her up in the sweetest kisses and when he embraced her it was like being held by pure love. It must have been the most satisfying feeling in the world knowing that if he wanted to just hold her hand anywhere, he could. If he wanted to press his forehead against hers, he could. If he felt like holding her body up against his and kissing her for dear life, he could.

They could do all of these things and not give a damn who was around.

His happiness was her happiness and for the next two weeks it was like falling in love with him all over again.

That Sunday found her alongside her mother pushing a shopping cart. Her mother was most relieved when her father had caught up on grading his student's assignments and could watch the kids, namely Meelo and Rohan, while she and Jinora went grocery shopping. Grocery shopping had always been easiest when it was just the two of them. They could actually get in and get out without a thousand unplanned items being thrown into the cart.

"Okay, honey..." said her mother as she crossed off another item on her list. "I'm going to go to the produce section. You mind going to get the cereal?"

Jinora shook her head. "That's fine. Anything different this time?"

"No, just the usual. Make sure you get the cinnamon flavored one for Rohan though, okay?"

Jinora nodded and went off to find the cereal aisle. Like many families, the Gyatso's went through cereal like crazy. Her family being especially large meant that each person had their own particular one and, just to save them all a little time and money, they got the big boxes.

She was juggling with four large boxes of cereal, trying not to let any tumble to the ground and, spirits forbid, dent the corners. It wouldn't be the first time Meelo had grumbled about a faulty cereal box before. All of them seemed to be ready to fall from under her as she made her way back down the aisle when she felt two boxes being snatched out of her arms.

"Hey!" she twirled around. "Excuse me, but those are-"

Eyebrows raised, it was Kai smiling at her. "_What_ are you doing?"

Jinora blinked. "Sweetheart... you startled me," she sighed, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"Obviously trying to keep you from breaking your neck," he chuckled, putting the two boxes plus his own smaller one under an arm.

"Well, my mom took the cart and I figured I'd just carry them over there like this, but that probably would have failed before I even got there..." she said, examining what she had. "Then I would have had to get all new ones so that Meelo wouldn't have a fit."

"Yeah, well not to worry," he said, grinning. "I'll always be here to save the day. Or are least your day. Hero shtick and whatnot."

"You're so silly," she said with a matching grin, turning her face up for his kiss when he leaned down to peck her on the lips. "But thank you for saving me and my breakfast. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He came back in for another peck or two before she pulled back.

"So, is it just you and your mom?" he asked.

She nodded. "Mm-hmm. Is it just you?"

"Nope. I'm here with Momko."

"Momko," she giggled. "I can't believe he still lets you call him that."

He shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he's embraced it by now. Honestly, I don't think he ever had that much of a problem with it in the first place."

"It's still really cute."

"Describes him pretty perfectly I think," he said blithely. "But hey, you know what else is pretty perfect?"

She raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile. "What?"

"You gotta guess," he laughed.

"Hmmm, let me think..." she shifted her eyes down and over in mock thought. Raising her face again, she lightly puckered up. "Maybe these kisses down here waiting for you?"

"I think so," he said, closing in on her again. "Shall we see?"

"We shall..." she said, accepting his lips as warmly as he was giving them. Nearly dropping the boxes she had left, she almost jumped when someone loudly cleared their throat. They pulled apart.

"If you two are done..." said Mako, eyebrows raised and drumming his fingers on the rail of his shopping cart. "Kai when I send you to go get food can you actually go get it _before _you run off to kiss your girlfriend? Not that I really mind, but I'd like you to actually remember what I need you to get before you go and get your memory wiped."

Kai rolled his eyes and straightened out. "Oh, c'mon, I got the cereal. See?"

He showed Mako the smaller box under his arm.

"Where's the milk and eggs?"

"...oh... we need those, don't we?"

Mako blinked at him, expression deadpanned. "I just did a twelve hour shift down at the station. Go get my groceries, damn it."

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going. C'mon, babe."

"Bye Mako," said Jinora, biting down on her lip to suppress a laugh.

Mako turned to go down the next aisle. "See you later, Jinora. Mind making sure he gets eggs and not actual possum chickens while he's at it?"

She hunched her shoulders as a bit of laughter sputtered out. Kai made a face at her, half-pouting. "You shush down there."

"I'm sorry, baby, but..." she peeked up at him with a crooked mouth that was trying not to smile. "You _did _forget, so, it was kind of true... and funny."

"He's being a nag," he grumbled.

"Oh, don't be like that," she laughed. "He's just being Momko."

Kai's mouth twitched into a smile. "Well, after I get his groceries, do you want to go down to this little coffee shop down the street? They've got-"

"Really good pumpkin flavored drinks?"

"Exactly. You want to?"

"Sure," she said, bumping her head against his shoulder affectionately. "You know I can't say no to you and coffee. Even if it _is _pumpkin."

"Hey, pumpkin is a perfectly good flavor. I'll make you see the light one of these days."

"Mm-hm, sure. Let's go get the food first and drop all of this off. Then, we'll go."

After filling their arms with milk, eggs and cereal, they ran into Jinora's mother near the chilled vegetables.

Her mother smiled warmly as they dropped the boxes of cereal into the cart. "Oh, hello, Kai! What a pleasant surprise."

Kai smiled back sheepishly. "Hi, Mrs. Gyatso."

"Are you here by yourself?"

"No, I'm with Momk- I mean, Mako. I, uh, ran into Jinora in the breakfast aisle," he said, red rising in his cheeks.

Her mother giggled. "Well, tell him and Bolin I said hi, okay?"

He nodded. "I will."

"Hey, mom?" Jinora began, tugging lightly at Kai's jacket in one hand and a carton of eggs in the other."Is it okay if Kai and I head to to the coffee shop down the street?"

"Hrmmm," hummed her mother thoughtfully. "Sure, I don't see why not. Did you want me to wait around and I can give Kai a ride home as well? If Mako just wants to go straight home?"

"Uh..." Kai started, sounding not entirely sure with that plan.

"No, it's fine," said Jinora, shaking her head. "Can we just take a cab?"

"You're father's not going to like that, but... I suppose if you're with Kai it's alright with me. You two just be careful, okay?"

"Okay," said Jinora, her and Kai turning to walk away. "Thanks mom!"

"No problem, sweetie. Good to see you, Kai."

"Oh, uh, you too, Mrs. Gyatso!" called Kai. He then turned to Jinora. "Your mom is way too nice to me."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I don't know... I mean, what did I do? You know. To deserve that? It's like she completely trusts me."

"Oh, that. She's just really good at reading people. I guess she just likes you and thinks we're good for each other?"

"Oh..." he said, his blush not totally subsiding. "That's nice."

They found a disgruntled Mako cruising the juice aisle and dropped off the rest of the groceries. Kai grabbed Jinora's hand and turned to leave. "Hey, Jinora and I are going to that coffee shop down the street. That okay?"

"It's fine." said Mako, glancing up briefly from his shopping list. "Just be careful. It's getting late."

"You worry too much."

"I'm _serious_, Kai. Just do me a favor and don't take the bus? Call me if you need me to pi-"

"It's fine, _Momko_." said Kai, smiling. "We're taking a cab."

"Alright," grunted Mako. "Go ahead then."

"We won't be out too late. Promise."

When they were out of earshot, Jinora took Kai by the arm and beamed up at him.

"You two are adorable."

He grinned. "He's also a worrywart."

When they made it outside, he shivered and pulled her in closer by the arm she was hanging onto. She took his arm and placed it around her shoulders, putting her own other free one around his waist so she could snuggle into his side as they walked down the street. "You cold?"

"Very," he said, teeth almost chattering.

"That's what I'm here for," she chuckled. "Although, I keep telling you to get a warmer jacket. Leather is not going to cut it and you know you don't handle cold weather all _that _well. Of course, if you'd just try those breathing exercises with me then you could be as warm as I am right now."

He raised a brow at her, eying her in nothing but a light jacket, skirt and fleece leggings. "I don't know how you do it, but breathing more is not going to help me keep warmer."

"They're breathing exercises! My father says that our people are good with cold weather because of our breathing. Didn't you say you were part Air Nomad too? If you'd just _try _them I know you'd catch on quickly!"

"I took a blood test and, yes, it did say I was _part_ Air Nomad."

"You said a significant amount."

He sighed restlessly. "Okay, yeah. It did say that. And?"

She blinked, then, twisted her mouth guiltily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up..."

"No, it's fine," he said and kissed her temple. "I didn't mean to snap at you. You're right. I probably should at least try it. Maybe then I won't feel like an icicle when I have to get around."

"It's just that you ride your bike even in the winter and I don't want you to get sick.

Mako isn't the only one who worries about you," she said, smiling.

"I know. I promise I'll try them next time we get a chance. But... on a completely unrelated note," he said, changing the subject. "You, uh, you and your sister talking yet?"

At that, she turned her eyes downcast. "Yes? No? Kind of, I guess. I mean, we're actually speaking now, but it's only when we have to and it's super politely. Completely awkward and stiff. We are, but we aren't."

"Why don't you just go and talk to her? Now that things have calmed down a bit?" he asked.

"Well, my mom says that I shouldn't force it. Y'know, take it slow? It's just that I really caused a rift between us and I don't want to make it any worse if she gets upset at me."

"But you aren't the only one at fault here. She kind of had a good hand in it too."

"Yeah, but I'm older and I handled it completely wrong. That day, it was totally unintentional what she did and now all these other feelings and issues have come up between us and... and it's just a bit of a mess. We'll get to talking again. Don't worry. But I think we both just need to let each other be until we're ready."

"Alright, if you say so. Anyway, we're here. You sure you don't want one of those pumpkin drinks?"

-:-:-:-

"Jinora, can you come in here, please?"

Jinora didn't like this at all. Her father had that "we need to talk" voice and Raava knew that this was going to either make or break her night. She'd just had a very pleasant coffee date with Kai and, of course, he hadn't been too terribly pleased about that when she returned home, but he'd been silent about it. Was this about that?

"Yes?" she asked, stepping into his study.

Her father was frowning at a sheet of paper on his desk, at a first glance she thought it was just one of his student's grade sheets until she realized, to her great dismay, it was her own.

"You've been... slipping," he said quietly. She wasn't sure whether or not he wanted her to hear the disapproval in his voice.

"W-what do you mean?" she said, her own voice trembling slightly. She gulped, all of a sudden feeling the strangest sensation of a tightened hollow space in her chest as if something was imploding her heart right into nothing.

"Your grades," he said, handing her the sheet.

Jinora took it with an unsteady hand and examined it. They were average. Satisfactory really.

She felt that hollow space in her chest fully now.

Therein lied the problem.

"T-t-they're fine," she said, gulping again. "Satisfactory, it says."

"Exactly," said her father matter of factually. "Can you tell me a time when you've _ever _been merely a satisfactory student?"

She didn't have an answer to that.

"Jinora, I asked you a question."

"...No," she whispered.

"In fact, you haven't made a single A this entire year. Most unlike you."

"The year just started!" she blurted out. "And almost my classes are honor classes! They're really hard!"

"That's never stopped you before. Why now?"

"...I-I-"

"In fact, last year I saw your grades slipping as well. They were lower than usual, but still fairly good and above average. However, I've never seen your grades this low before. Now, I wonder why that is?"

"Daddy-"

"I wonder what happened in your life a _year ago _that might have made this change in you?"

"Dad, please. It's not-"

"Jinora, we discussed about what would happen if _he _interfered in what's best for you. Did we not?"

She felt her eyes stinging, her mouth was starting to feel dry and she didn't seem to possess the gall she did like the first time she confronted her father. He seemed to have cut all that by the clear and stern way he was approaching this matter.

"I-I just need a bit more time. It's only been a little over three months since school started! My classes have been brutal this year, but I promise I'll get them up. I really will. Just... Kai and I... please..."

Her father fixed her with a stern, almost cold eye. "Fix it."

She nodded and rushed upstairs to start studying immediately, wiping a few leaking tears on her way up.

The next day was no better. She told Kai briefly about her conversation, sparing him as many details as she could so he wouldn't worry. In retrospect, she probably just made it sound as if her father was being grumpy again and was venting about it a little. To comfort her, he offered her his sweet words that everything would be okay and they helped her make the day bearable until lunch.

That day, Jinora sat with Kumi, Padma and Meng Meng. When they got into it, Jinora told them the story about her father the same way she told it to Kai.

"You'll be fine, Jinora," said Padma sweetly. "You've always been ahead of everyone academically. Don't worry."

"Everybody likes to say that. Not to worry..." mumbled Jinora.

"Well, you really shouldn't. Your dad's probably just stressed because it's your last year. You know, "getting my kid into university" stress," said Kumi. "My mom's getting like that."

"I really wish he wouldn't though," said Jinora simply.

"Well, look at the bright side of things going for you. You have Kai. I'm kind of jealous, really. You two are so sweet together," said Padma.

That made Jinora smile. "Thanks."

Meng Meng sighed. "That's nice and all, but you know there are all sorts of rumors going on about him now? I mean, for a guy, a whole year is pretty impressive to keep a secret. Maybe he's, you know, had practice."

Jinora made a face. "There's always been rumors about him. And me. And... well everyone actually at one point I'm sure."

"But a lot of these probably aren't rumors. I hear he was always hitting up the library with some girl. I'd think it was you, but like _you_ would ever do _that _in the library. You're too... Jinora. "

How badly Jinora wanted to tell Meng Meng – just to throw it in her face at least a little – that girl had indeed been herself. Contrary to popular belief, she didn't designate the library as a sanctified spot. The library was just one of the most private places in the school to get away from people when she, or Kai for that matter, needed it. Besides, it had books. Where else would they really think she'd be at? For anything?

She and Kai had done their deeds in the hidden corners of the library as quietly as possible during lunch and after school many times. She found it adventurous. He found it endearing. Simply put, it was fun. Although now she knew exactly just how many times they'd gotten way too close to being caught. It actually surprised her that their secret hadn't been ousted earlier.

"I doubt that," said Jinora, going back to her food. "I just really wish I knew who had spread our business all over school."

Meng Meng snorted. "Well, I did, of course."

Jinora froze, blinking.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Your sister said something about it in the bathroom and I told-"

Jinora put her chopsticks down forcefully, trying to control the boiling in her blood. "You did what!?"

Kumi and Padma started with mixed expressions, mouths agape.

"Meng Meng!" cried Kumi.

Padma only shook her head.

"What?" asked Meng Meng, shrugging indignantly.

"What do you mean '_wha__t?'_" cried Jinora. "That wasn't yours to tell! How- How dare you!"

Did people nowadays simply lack the ability to keep their mouths shut or what? If Jinora hadn't been so busy trying to keep what little patience she had left she might have stood up and knocked her chair over in the process. First, her sister? And now her, well, she hardly called Meng Meng a friend as she did an associated acquaintance of Kumi and Padma.

"Look. I'm trying to _help _you here. All I am saying is that you kept this secret for a year, right?" Meng Meng stood up, taking her tray with her. "So did he. And he was good at it since I, nor anyone else for that matter, _ever _suspected that he had an actual girlfriend. Again, for an entire year. Besides that, what else does anyone know about Kai to begin with? He's so shady. What makes you think your his only secret?"

Jinora looked on as she walked away, absolutely disgusted... but also highly disturbed.

Damn it.

* * *

><p>That storm is so not over.<p>

On a funnier note, I had fun writing Kai and Mako in this one. I'm sorry, _Momko. _

I know that I'm really dragging out Ikki and Jinora's problem out (in the fic it's been like almost two months), but like Jinora said here, there's a rift now. It's become more than just about what Ikki did and more about deeper family issues. Also, I hope you guys also don't feel like Tenzin is ooc here or being too cold to Jinora. I _promise _that is going to get addressed in the future. All of Ikki, Jinora's and Tenzin's issues with each other will come to head I promise. That time just hasn't come yet.

Other than that I don't have too much to say here except that storm is still a brewin'.

As always, I love it when you guys drop those reviews as they really helps keep the story going and keeps me motivated to write (even if it's just you wanting to point something out). Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


	8. The Fall

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>You can run and you can hide from the entire world, but not yourself.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Fall<strong>

* * *

><p>Not for one second did Jinora believe what Meng Meng had been suggesting. Not for a moment did she have any doubt in her heart that she was Kai's one and only the same way he was for her. It was an earnest and sincere belief that held the same iron grip it always had. She had no doubt.<p>

Then why did she just feel the need to _ask?_

It wasn't even that she needed him to confirm it, but rather... she wanted him to? The entire thing ate away at her all week. At first, her conscience screamed at her that it would have been a bad idea to bring it up in the least. Understanding her boyfriend was. Loving. Accepting, and everything else perfect under the sun. But even he wouldn't take that kind of question very lightly. They would definitely have to sit down and talk about it if she decided to say anything. With that, she refused to mention it.

For the first couple days that was her firm decision. As the days wore on, however, the thought ate at her and ate at her and continued to do so. Surely, we would understand. Surely, he would simply listen to her and, at the worst, maybe get irritated. She kept telling herself these things until that Sunday they were hanging out at his place while Mako and Bolin were at work and she just couldn't take it anymore.

They were sitting on the couch, watching television as he was busy sketching out something on his laptop. She looked over at his work.

He'll understand, she thought to herself. He always does.

"What are you drawing this time?" she asked.

"I'm fiddling around with these historical designs and this soldier is just getting away from me," he made a face at his computer screen, twirling his tablet pen in his hand.

"It looks great," she said honestly. He'd painted a soldier decked out in green and gold armor. Being the history buff she was, she could guess from the modesty, yet regalia that the soldier was a royal guard of the Earth King. "Royal guard?"

"Mm-hmm," he said, still looking at it and biting at his lip absently.

"Then I think it's really good seeing as I was able to guess what it was, don't you think?" she asked.

He turned to her with a smile. "It's a bit too feudal era Earth Kingdom for me. I think I need to make his design simpler if he's supposed to be guarding a King. He looks like a warlord."

"Maybe you should take a break from it then?"

"Mm... maybe," he said, pressing a few buttons on his keyboard and setting the laptop aside on the coffee table. "I think I will. Gives me time to just stop looking at it for a second. Besides, my eyes could use the break to be honest."

When he put it aside, she smiled and silently started moving herself on top of him, embedding her knees on the couch on either side of him. With her kneeling over him as he still sat there, she bent down to kiss him. He silently accepted, bringing his hands up to her waist.

They pulled back. He stared lovingly up at her, rubbing her up and down her sides. She brought her hands over his chest and shoulders, the look in his eyes almost making her shiver. Placing a hand on the side of his face, she leaned down for another sweet kiss.

He would definitely understand.

"You love me, don't you?" she breathed to him in between kisses.

That almost seemed to catch him off guard as he pulled back slightly. "Of course I do... why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Meng Meng was just saying some things to me earlier," she brought her forehead down to his. "And it just annoyed me."

"What type of things?" he asked, giving her another peck.

"Just things... about how she thinks you probably have someone else besides me running around with you," she said, trying to sound nonchalant and dismissive.

"Well, you don't honestly believe that do you?" he asked, his voice sounding a little clearer this time and not as breathless as before.

"Of course not," she said quietly, closing her eyes and letting out a shallow sigh of relief.

His hands on her froze and, for a moment, her heart did as well when he took his forehead away to get a good look at her.

"What?" she asked, looking down at him as something gripped the inside of her chest.

He blinked at her. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and whispered incredulously,"You _do_,"

"No, sweetheart, of course I don't. You know I don't," she shook her head fervently and tried to leaned down on him again.

He wouldn't reciprocate and, anxiously, she tried to bring his face to hers, but he turned away and put his hands on her hips to move her.

"Jinora, get off."

She slowly got off and sat looking at him, a tight knot quivering with a feeling she'd never known with him before: fear. It wasn't the fear of him hurting her. He'd never lay a hand on her. It was a fear that was reflected in the way he looked at her with anger, displeasure and, worst of all, disappointment.

"Kai... sweetheart, let me explain-"

"Explain what? The fact that you're asking me if I'm seeing someone else?" he asked her loudly. "Jinora, I cannot _believe _you'd even ask me that!"

"That's not it-"

"How can it not be it? You just came out and asked!"

"I didn't ask anything!" she cried, her eyes starting to sting a little. Everything she'd thought before... everything she'd _rationalized_ was now in pieces.

"You were _relieved, _Jinora. I saw it on your face!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

Why did she have to ask? If she could only turn time back a minut-

"Of course it means something! You wouldn't be relieved if you weren't thinking about it!"

Well, she couldn't deny that, but that didn't mean she actually thought that he'd been seeing someone else. On the other hand, she also really couldn't pinpoint why it had bothered her so much in the first place.

"Kai... t-that's not how it was... " she said, desperately trying to find the words, but they just weren't coming.

"Then how is it?" he demanded.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just..." she began, the words dying again in her throat and her voice starting to crack. Not knowing what else to say, she looked up at him in an almost pleading manner. She really hadn't meant to hurt him, but now that it'd come out of her mouth she knew that hadn't been the way to go about it at all.

He didn't say anything. What exactly had she expected him to say? This had gone entirely different than how she'd hoped it would and now she wasn't prepared for his reaction. They sat in silence, each one seemingly waiting for the other to say something. Anything.

Just as she felt ready to suffocate from the tension, Kai turned away and opened up his laptop again. "Just... forget it," he grunted.

"Kai..." she began, wanting to reach out for him.

He rebuffed her. "Let's just forget it, okay?"

She swallowed hard, reluctantly turning back to the television with a sick pit like feeling in her belly.

For a long time, they barely spoke to each other. She tried twice to bring up the subject again so they could get it out, but he refused to entertain the conversation both times.

After a third try, Kai snapped at her.

"Jinora, what do you want me to say? What is it that's going to please you right now?" he asked, aggravated and almost looking like he was ready to throw his laptop back onto the table.

"Anything!" she exclaimed. "Just- I don't know, say anything! I didn't mean it the way it came out! You know that!"

"I do know that what you _did _mean it wasn't that far off! I don't know what you expect me to say, but I just don't want to talk about this right now, okay? Can you just accept that for a minute?"

Her huffed and went back to his laptop. She frowned deeply. Why couldn't he just _listen _to her?

"Kai, you can't just _ignore _me!" she blurted. "We have to talk about this at least a little."

This time, he didn't even look at her or say anything.

Flustered, Jinora got louder. "Look, I know this is just how you handle things, but your issues can't get in the way every time we need to talk about something!"

That caught his attention.

That _definitely_ caught his attention. He actually sat forward this time.

"I'm sorry, my _what?_"

He started at her, mouth agape, a mixture of disbelief and outrage on his face. She let out a little gasp, eyes wide, staring back at him and not even believing what she had said herself.

She gaped, unable to form any words at that point.

She saw his jaw tighten and could tell he was biting the inside of his cheek. He got up, placing his things on the table and walked past where she was sitting.

"Kai, I didn't- please... where are you going?" she pleaded weakly, scraping up a voice from somewhere in her throat.

"Out," he said, slamming the door in his wake.

When it was time for her to leave... she felt very cold. She didn't even wait for him to get back, figuring he probably wasn't really in the mood to see her.

If there was anything that broke her heart more it was the fact that she'd hurt him, but, for the time being, nothing she said was going to make him feel any better.

-:-:-:-

The next day showed no improvement. Kai and her spent the entire day not talking to each other. She tried to text him, but he never responded. Every time she approached him it was like he didn't know what he was supposed to be saying. Other times, it was like he found an excuse to talk to somebody else so he didn't have to talk to her. That night, when she called him like she always did, he obviously still didn't feel like talking. After three days of trying to initiate some contact, she stopped trying and chalked it up to him needing some space.

Perhaps that was what they both needed.

A break...

The idea of being on any sort of break with Kai was enough to drive her insane if she sat there and thought about it. He was hurt and she understood that. That was fair. She had approached that matter with a dialogue she really, _really_ shouldn't have gone for, but... was it also fair that he was just _avoiding _her? They no longer even sat next to each other in class like they started to. He sat in his usual back corner and she went back to sitting near the front of the class like it used to be.

Jinora found that it was... rather lonely.

She tried to reason with herself that the heart couldn't grow fonder if there was no absence, but the truth was that it was only maddening. In one of her romantic novels or films some might have pegged her as being over dramatic or dependent, but it was so, so different when you were living it. Her boyfriend - the man that she considered her soul mate – wasn't talking to her and she couldn't help it if she felt ready to fall apart at the seams.

It didn't help that her family seemed to have caught on either. Her mother tried to coax it out of her, but in no way did Jinora want to talk about it. Even with her mother. Talking about it actually made it physical and not some floating limbo... _thing _that she and Kai were going through. Her siblings asked no questions. In fact, matters with Ikki hadn't changed at all and her issues with Kai now left her unequipped to even deal with that. Her father didn't say, well, anything. In fact, he seemed to try to act as if nothing was wrong. Part of her was grateful and another part of her wanted to be very angry with him. Was he being silent out of consideration and not trying to make things harder for once or was he being smug about her issues with Kai and trying to rub it in her face?

Between Kai's cold shoulder, her mother's worried looks, her father's irritatingly ambiguous demeanor, the work finally starting to pile up with all her honors classes and the approaching tutoring season that she would no doubt be asked to lend a hand for, Jinora finally felt herself become like an ostrich horse needing to stick it's head in the sand, but not having enough sand to do it right.

She tried to dive into her work, but staying up nearly all night studying wasn't allowing her to stay up long enough to finish her mountain of assignments. On top of that, she found herself skipping both breakfast as well as lunch just to catch up, relying on little snacks to keep her going.

She would get called down for dinner and something about her having eaten a big lunch would come out of her mouth.

She needed to study. Her mother just had to understand.

She had a big test Friday.

Dinner could wait...

Another cup of coffee would be enough...

-:-:-:-

Three days turned into seven.

Jinora didn't need sleep. She needed to finish her assignments and for Kumi and Meng Meng to stop talking to her about Kai.

"...Jinora... I just think you might want to talk to him is all..." said Kumi weakly. They sat in the local public library with all their textbooks and papers laid out on the table. She honestly preferred the school library since it was more familiar to her and now that she'd been spending her after school hours there, but it couldn't be helped that it was the weekend. Realizing Kai probably wouldn't be meeting her at the tree, Jinora hadn't even bothered showing up since Tuesday.

"He doesn't want to talk," she said simply, not looking up from her book.

"I know, but maybe if you tried-"

"I can't do anything here, Kumi. He doesn't want to talk to me right now. He's upset."

"Well, you're better off without him to be honest," chirped Meng Meng. "Especially if he's going to be a big baby about it."

Jinora scowled at Meng Meng. _Why_ had she even given Kumi the okay to bring her along? Oh yeah, because she had some _work to do _and needed to go to the library anyway.

Bison Bull.

More like she had some gloating to do. Meng Meng was obviously having one of her "I'm so pleased with myself because I think I was right all along" moments and Jinora had half a mind to throw her textbook right at the girl's face. She wanted to spat at her and tell her that if it hadn't been for her and her stupid mouth then she and Kai would be just fine right now. But _no_, she couldn't just keep her nose out of business that wasn't hers and, of course, Jinora had been the bigger idiot for listening to her. Just thinking about it was starting to make her face heat up and it took all of her strength not to reach over and shake the girl right out of her-

"Stop it, Meng Meng. This is honestly your fault," scolded Kumi, snapping Jinora out of her unusually violent thoughts.

"My fault? You should be _thanking_ me," sniffed Meng Meng. "Now, you know how he really is. Can you imagine if you'd been with him any longer-"

"We're not broken up," snapped Jinora, going back to her reading. The longer she looked at Meng Meng the stronger her urge to do something not very nice to the girl grew.

At least I don't think we are, she thought miserably.

"Well, if it goes on like this..."

Jinora looked up to Meng Meng sending her a smug, knowing look as the girl got up to leave the table. Before Jinora could say anything after her, Kumi intervened.

"I know you guys are in a tough spot right now," said Kumi quickly, trying to cut her way into the conversation. "But it's just... I'm kind of worried about you. You seem really, really stressed out and you haven't even been eating lunch. I only ever see you gnawing on those little granola bars like a rabbit or something. And you were falling asleep in class on Friday. I don't think I've ever seen you do that before... I know that you two had a bad fight, but that shouldn't stop you from taking care of yourself..."

Jinora sighed. "I'm fine, Kumi. Thanks, but I just really need to study."

"But studying won't help if you don't get any rest. Jinora, it's Sunday. You should be at home relaxing. Not here studying. I don't mind being out here with you, but I only came because you sounded like you really needed the company. I just think you should go home and get some sleep..." insisted Kumi.

"I'm fine with tea and coffee. Besides, I did sleep last night."

"You did? Are you sure? You really don't look like it."

She wasn't exactly lying. She did sleep.

An hour was enough.

With the coffee she'd be fine. Why sleep when she could getting through more work?

"Jinora, I know you're an overachiever. I mean, you've been as long as I've known you and probably have been your entire life, but I think you're pushing it too far this time. Maybe nobody else sees it, but I can... you really look like you're going to hurt yourself."

"Honestly, Kumi. I'm fine. I promise," said Jinora, forcing a smile. "It's just been a really hard week, but I'm totally okay. If I really wasn't okay do you think I'd even be here right now? My mom would have kept me home, don't you think?"

Not that she'd been trying to stay around her mom for more than a few minutes these past few days.

"I guess you're right... as long as you're sure..."

"I am. Really. I'm completely and totally fine."

-:-:-:-

"So, uh..."

Kai blinked, looking away from the television. Bolin was twisting his mouth and playing with his fingers somewhat nervously. Beside him, Mako had a hand on his hip. Kai frowned, knowing this particular scene well.

"What is it?" asked Kai slowly.

"Well, uh, we wanted to talk to you about something..." began Bolin, rubbing the back of his neck. Kai raised an eyebrow. Why was he so nervous?

"About what?"

"Well, you see- it's about- what I'm trying to get at is-"

Mako sighed. "_Bolin_."

"I'm sorry! This is kind of sensitive! Is it really our business?"

"Kai is our business. Of course it is."

"_What _is?" asked Kai, bewildered and almost frustrated. What was so sensitive at this point that they just couldn't come right out and say it?

Mako turned to Kai with a decisive fold of his arms. "Are you and Jinora fighting?"

For a split second, Kai froze, not having expected that. He turned back to the television. "We're fine."

"You sure, little bro?" asked Bolin tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Kai pointedly. "Why are you asking?"

"You've been home _hours _early every day this week," said Mako. "Skulking around the house and just doing, well, nothing. We know you. If you're not at school or at work then you're usually with your girlfriend. Since we just found out a few weeks ago Jinora _is _that girlfriend I'm going to assume the problem is with her. Am I right?"

"We're just- we're-" sputtered Kai, irritated. "Look, don't worry about it, okay?"

"Kai..." said Mako, him and Bolin taking seats on the recliner and couch. "Come on. You can talk to us."

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it? If it's because I'm not doing anything at home I can ask Toza for more hours or something, alright?"

"You know I don't mind you being at home," said Mako, frowning. "But I've been to the grocery store three times this week. You being at home and being in a mood makes for a higher grocery bill than I'd like to be paying. I get that you like to cook when you're upset because it gets your mind off things, but if I see one more empty carton of eggs that I'd just put in there the morning before _so help me Raava._"

Kai looked away. "Sorry... I didn't realize I'd been doing so much of it."

"It's fine," Mako shook his head. "That's not the big deal."

"We're worried about you," said Bolin. "We just think you should talk about it. It's obviously really bothering you."

Kai pursed his lips. He wasn't sure he wanted to...

"Kai," said Mako gently. "Come on. It might help."

Kai sighed. He turned to face them. "Well... see, what happened was..."

He went into the story, telling them all about what happened between him and Jinora last Sunday. When he finished, Mako put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"So..." said Mako. "Have you guys tried to talk about it?

"Well, I haven't exactly been in the mood to. I'm not sure if she is either," shrugged Kai.

"Well, have you tried?"

"It's not something I really want to talk about to be honest," muttered Kai.

Mako frowned. "When's the last time you really talked to her? Like, in a real conversation."

"Sunday, I guess..."

Bolin furrowed his eyebrows. "Little bro, that was a week ago. Don't you think maybe you should go ahead and give it a shot now?"

"Bolin's right. That's kind of a long time for you not to be talking to her," said Mako. "She probably misses you. Maybe you two should sit down and have at it again."

"I just don't really want to talk about that with her, okay?"

"Sounds like you don't really want to talk about much of anything with her," replied Mako.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to. You implied it. You said you haven't had a real conversation with her in seven days yet you see her every day at school. You've been home early every day this week, but I've barely seen you on your phone and you don't even get on your computer as much which is really weird for you. Sounds to me like you've been avoiding her."

Kai grunted, looking away. Damn Mako and monkeyfeathering annoying detective skills.

"Don't be like that, Kai," said Bolin. "It's just.. what you're doing isn't healthy. You two should talk about this. You're letting it drag-"

"We'll work it out, alright?" said Kai, moving to get up.

"C'mon, buddy... she's not exactly wrong is she?" asked Bolin.

"What do you mean?" asked Kai, narrowing his eyes.

"What Bolin is trying to say," said Mako "Is that Jinora is kind of right. You do, well, have some issues."

"Mako..."

"No, Bolin. We dance about this subject enough. He needs to hear it,"

"No, I don't. I'm going to bed."

Kai stood up.

"Sit down," ordered Mako.

Automatically, Kai froze. Slowly, reluctantly, he sat down, scowling at Mako. He refused to look either of them in the face.

"Kai... look. I'm not saying you're some nutcase, but this isn't the first time where you've gotten into an argument and you've just straight up ignored the person or shut them out."

"And what? That means I have _issues_?"

"For someone with your type of background, yes, it may very well mean that! In fact, I know it means that. You've done it with us."

"But those weren't big deals!" spat Kai. "I was, what? Maybe mad at you guys for a day? I got over it and we moved past it!"

"So, you're telling me that it's just completely normal for you to ignore your girlfriend for a week? You're girlfriend who you're supposedly so in love with? This girl who you seem to spend every waking minute of freedom with? All of a sudden, you just... _bam,_" said Mako, making a gesture with his hand._ "_Stop talking to her for a week? That's normal?"

"Maybe for some people it is," said Kai stubbornly.

"Do you even hear yourself? You might as well put a sign over your neck that says 'I avoid people when they hurt me'."

"C'mon, Mako. That's enough," said Bolin. He turned to Kai. "But he's got a point, Kai. This isn't really all that normal. Not for you at least. It's just not healthy to shut out the people you love..."

Kai scowled at them both. "I am not going to be your one of your little cases. Don't treat me like one."

"We're _not_," insisted Mako. "But do you honestly believe that this is going to end well if you go on like this? That things are just going work themselves out?"

Kai said nothing.

Mako sighed and went on.

"Look... Bolin and I have tried for years to get you to go to someone and open up about... how things were for you before you came to us and about your mom," if Mako noticed Kai wincing he didn't say anything about it. "But you've always resisted us about it and I'm telling you as someone who really cares about what happens to you. I don't want to see you end up putting yourself in a hurtful situation."

Kai still remained silent.

"Here," began Mako. "Let me let you in on a little secret... I asked Korra the same thing a few years back."

Bolin and Kai both looked at Mako.

"You what?" asked Kai. "A-and she was just okay with it?"

"No," said Mako frankly. "She was pretty upset."

"Then you see where I'm coming from!"

"I do... but here's the difference," said Mako, pointing out a finger. "We _talked _about it. She heard me out. She listened to me and we were upset with each other for maybe an hour. Not _seven days._"

"But why..." Kai looked down, then back up at Mako. "...tell me something?"

"Sure, anything."

"Why did you ask her that?"

Mako half-smiled at him. "To be honest? I just wanted to hear her say it. It would have been like hearing Raava herself speak."

Kai looked down again, now slipping deep into thought.

"I know it seems like we're being on the offense here a little bit, but... we just want what's best for you," said Bolin gently. "All we're saying is that you should talk to her."

After sitting there for a moment, Kai sighed and got back up. "I'm tired... I'm going to go to bed, alright?"

Mako nodded. "Yeah, that's fine, but before you do that...?"

"Yeah?"

"You said those times back then when you argued with us weren't big deals. You were right. They weren't. But now let me ask you something," Mako stood up and walked towards Kai, arms spread out inquiringly. "How long are you going to wait until it does become a big deal?"

* * *

><p>I really liked typing up that last scene. The story's 95% told through Jinora's point of view, but I wanted that one scene with Kai to show his relationship with Mako and Bolin and kind of to help highlight on Kai's faults. This chapter was a lot about Kai and Jinora's faults, namely Kai's. We've seen where Jinora falters in her need to people please and it gets more emphasis here, but this chapter also had a lot to do with shedding a good amount of light where Kai's not so perfect either and it took me a longer time, but I enjoyed writing it :)<p>

On another note, if you're on tumblr, then head on over to the tumblr blogs **_kai-fong_** and _**gxntlewind**_! They're rp blogs run by me and a friend that are specifically made for the What's Done in the Dark au world and they're extensions of this fic. They'll have more stories that just won't fit into this fic and we'll be able to explore more things that, again, aren't going to fit into the fic here. You can even asks them questions via asks. Also, if you liked The Weekend, then you'll like these blogs because we also do (and have already done some) smut threads. With these blogs going I may or may not do a smut chapter in this fic anymore so that I can keep it at rated T and instead just rp the smut over at the rp blogs. Check them out!

As always, I appreciate those reviews guys as they really help keep me writing and keep the story going! Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


	9. The Break

This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

* * *

><p><em>Human beings are always at war with themselves. Tragically, it's only natural that we lose a battle every now and again.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>The Break<strong>

* * *

><p>"I... I <em>failed?<em>"

How?

She... she couldn't believe it.

_How?_

She had studied so long and hard into the night... into the wee hours of the morning... how could she have just _failed _outright? Not once in Jinora's academic career had she ever held a test of hers that marked a failure in glaring red ink. Let alone a rather horrible failure. Looking at the exam, she wouldn't have been surprised if her score was at the bottom of the class.

"That's why I wanted to give it to you after the period," said Mr. Koryu gently. "I didn't want anybody making a fuss if they saw it and having it end up disrupting class or distracting you. This was my first major exam of the year... I'm... very surprised, Jinora. This is most unlike you."

While she was grateful that nobody was there to catch a glance at her miserable excuse for a test score and make some loud ruckus about _perfect princess Jinora Gyatso _messing up in something school related... the silence was apparent and actually quite terrifying. It screamed in her ear louder than anything she'd ever heard in her eighteen years of life and she wasn't sure what would have made her want to cry more: absolute silence or absolute mockery.

"I-I-I... this has to be a mistake... I studied! I did!" she looked up from her paper, her eyes about as dry as her mouth now felt and unable to tear up like she knew her body wanted them too. "Mr. Koryu, this c-c... this _can't _be right."

Mr. Koryu frowned sympathetically. "I'm afraid it is, Jinora. I even double, triple checked to make sure I wasn't simply missing something. As I said, I was very surprised. Your answers seemed like they were half thought through. Like you weren't all the way there when you were writing them. Some of these hardly make sense to the problems. I know that Advanced Calculus and Trigonometry might not be your strongest suit exactly, but you've always done decently enough."

True to his word, Jinora had done _merely _decently enough in his class. Math wasn't her favorite subject, but it hadn't exactly been that hard most of the time. With a little extra effort she was usually on top of her game.

But this class had been different. It was an honors math class sent straight from Vaatu himself and Jinora hated it. The way Mr. Koryu taught was fine, but it confused her sometimes. Then, when she asked him for help or tried to teach it to herself she usually didn't get it all the way. However, with enough effort she could usually pull a more than satisfactory grade after consulting the internet for a few hours and trying not to pull her own hair out.

She had sworn she'd been ready. She'd studied. She'd had a little more coffee than she usually did this morning and even did a a little more review on the way to school. If anything, she should have been _more _than prepared! What had gone so wrong?

It didn't matter. How could she fix it?

"I-I can retake it! Please, Mr. Koryu!"

"Jinora, now, you know my policy. No retakes on major unit exams. Quizzes and minor tests only. If I did it for you then I'd have to do it for everyone else."

The temperature in the room dropped at least ten degrees just then. She swore it did. Was her blood running cold?

"Mr. Koryu, _please_. I won't fail this time! I promise I won't! If I don't retake this I'll be failing the class! I-"

"I'm sorry, Jinora," he shook his head sadly. "I really can't. It wouldn't be fair for everyone else."

No... this could not be happening... this could _not. Be. Happening._

"B-but... but I..."

"It's alright, Jinora. This class is easy for some and hard for others. There will be a next time. The homework for this week will get your grade out of the failing zone as long as they're done to satisfaction. Next time around, come to me and I can help you or have someone tutor you, okay?"

She nodded weakly, feeling as if apart of her consciousness had just slipped away, and then walked out as Mr. Koryu gestured for her to get to her next class. Tutor her? Since when did she suddenly need tutoring? Had she ever really _needed _atutor besides her father maybe when she was younger?

What was going on in her life? She walked down the hall, not exactly watching where she was going as much as her feet just kind of remembered where to go. Opening her locker, she saw books and folders and school supplies and she just... she just wanted to _burn it all_.

Why was this happening to her? She'd done everything she could to prepare herself for anything school had to throw at her this year, yet she was making lower grades than any other year before. They weren't horrid, but they weren't nearly as good as her usual. Now this?

What was she going to do? Couldn't she fix this somehow? Well, she couldn't just march back into Mr. Koryu's class and beg for a retake when he'd so clearly said no. The only thing to be done was to complete her homework properly this week, but obviously she'd shown herself that she didn't know what she was doing. How could she have let this happen? It was such a mess.

And on top of it all, she felt so, _so _lonely. Nobody _got _it. Nobody understood how meaningful this all was and there didn't seem to be anybody she could go to at the moment.

Would the librarian still ask her to be a tutor now if she got wind of that? It was a little troublesome sometimes, but she didn't mind being a tutor to people and she certainly _could_. Would people stop asking her for help if they knew she had failed a test so horribly? People always asked her for help and she couldn't exactly say that it didn't give her a vague sense of achievement when they did.

People _relied _on her and she'd be a huge liar if she said that didn't make her feel something. As if... as if she were accomplished in some sort of way for others to feel like she was the go to person for all things academic. Perhaps that was why things had been so frustrating in the recent months going into her last year of high school. She felt like that was the only way to get that sense of accomplishment, but at the same time it could also be so draining both physically and emotionally.

On one hand, she wanted people to let her be so she could live her life. It made her feel bad, but she never asked to be anybody's role model. Her siblings were a given, but not the _entire school._

On the other hand, she wanted them to bother her. It... it made her feel satisfied. Not good exactly, but _satisfied_. As if this was what she was supposed to be doing.

She'd won many academic awards over the years, been on honor roll, her parents had told her they were proud of of her more times than she could count and teachers had praised her all her years, but... was it horrible that all of those things didn't give her the sense of importance that somebody prodding her for help in their history class did?

This failing test might have just shattered that.

Then what?

She'd have to start all over.

She'd have to show people that all her hours studying extra, all those awards, all those times on the honor roll weren't flukes or just little gold stars on her record. They _meant _something. She didn't like to brag about them, but having them there backed her up. _Damn it all to the Fog of Lost Souls_, she had _earned _those.

One little test could not be taking all that away from her now. Not in such an important year.

She couldn't just start all over again.

"Hey."

Jinora looked up out of her locker, blinking away a wetness from her eyes. It was the strangest thing in the world to have her boyfriend come up to her and not be greeted with a kiss or a loving smile. It was downright heartbreaking to have him standing there, hands in his pockets and so much that he obviously wanted to say when she had wanted to talk to him for the last week. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to hug him, be angry with him or just run off and cry at the sight of him.

"H-hey..." she said, her voice shaking against her will.

Kai looked down for a moment then back at her, hunching his shoulder slightly. He said something about talking after that, but Jinora wasn't sure... she couldn't hear him. Her heart was pounding too hard in her ears and her mind kept trying to drift back somewhere else.

How surprised would Kai be when he found out about her test...?

Should she have cared at this point?

She was kidding herself. Of course she cared. If anything, she cared more because it was him. If there was anybody she had always loved hearing was proud of her it was Kai. Now that it came to mind... was that all over now? She kind of wanted to be angry herself because she wasn't angry with him. After all, that was how these things were supposed to go, right?

But she just missed him _so much_ and that was probably one of the most frustrating parts. She missed him and she had tried to talk to him, but now he was approaching her and it was supposed to be as simple as him saying that he wanted to talk?

She should have been mad at him too.

She wanted to give him the cold shoulder the same way he had done to her and she was kind of hating herself in that moment for not being able to bring herself to be like that.

After all, even through all this they both loved still each other...

Was it really too late to take another shot at convincing Mr. Koryu to reconsider?

"Jinora?"

His voice brought her back. "W-what?"

"I... I said that we should probably talk..." he said, frowning slightly. "...are you okay?"

She wanted to tell him yes and shoo him away.

She didn't want him to see her like this.

In the end, she said nothing.

"Jinora... I know that we haven't really talked for a few days, but you know that if there's anything wrong you can tell me."

"Kai, do I look like I'm okay?"

Suddenly, all the hurt from the last week came washing into her chest and she just couldn't get rid of it. As much as she missed him and wanted to just hug him or kiss him, she couldn't shake that wounded feeling that had built up from him essentially avoiding her. She understood that he was hurt too, but...

"Jinora..."

"You've barely spoken to me for seven days," she said, her voice shaking now. "_Seven days. _And now you're asking me if I'm _okay_?"

"Of course I am... I know I was mad and, yeah, that was a bit wrong on my part, but it's not like I all of a sudden don't give a damn," he said somewhat dejectedly. "Look, it's not like we're broken up or anything. I just-"

"Really!? Because it sure felt like it!" she laughed bitterly at him now, a sense of control slipping as she felt her book bag drop to the ground. "I tried and tried and _tried _to talk to you! I _wanted _to talk it out, but _you _refused to so much as look at me! It was like I was a _nobody to you _and now you _want to talk!?_"

Kai frowned at her and his eyes narrowed.

"You know you could never be a nobody to me... look, _I'm sorry_! Alright!? I'm sorry that I-"

"You're sorry!? _You're sorry!?"_

"Yes, I am! I _am _sorry! I can't make you believe me or accept it, but I wanted to at least see if we could talk it out now! I just needed a couple days-"

"_A couple days!?_" she almost cried, getting louder now and it taking everything in her power not to screech that at him. The hall was empty except for the two of them and second period had started, but she couldn't have cared less right then.

He sighed. "I know it became longer than that I just didn't know how-"

"It was _seven days, _Kai!" she balled her hands into fists as her eyes stung. "You and your _issues_ couldn't figure it out for _seven days!?_"

"_Would you stop throwing that in my face?_"

Thankfully, the hall where her locker was located wasn't near any active classrooms because now he growled at her and got about as loud as she did. "_I get it! I'm messed up, but I don't need to be reminded about it! Maybe that's why I haven't talked to you for a week, huh? Maybe I don't want us to have to bring it up!"_

"Well, somebody obviously should!"

His mouth fell open a bit, but he went on.

"What's the matter with you today!? I get that you're mad at me, but this is starting to sound like it's about a lot more than just me!"

She scowled and made to turn away from him, but her body didn't move and it was like she didn't have the strength or the will to. One part of her wished he'd go away and another part of her wished he'd just pull her into a crushing hug. The thought only made her tear up more and, stubbornly, she looked up to fight it off.

He took a deep breath.

"... just... tell me what's the matter, okay?"

"What's the matter?" she repeated, her voice cracking now. "What's the _matter_? _I'll tell you what's the matter! _I _failed, _Kai!"

She walked up to him and shoved her exam in his chest. Looking slightly stunned, he took a second to glance over it and furrowed his brows in sympathy.

She couldn't stop the tears now as they spilled over. Her voice cracked even more and her lip quivered.

"My life is falling apart..."

"...Jinora... that's not true-"

She looked up sharply.

"_How is it not true!? Nobody's __ever going to trust me again! That's what's the matter! You know what Mr. Koryu said!? That he'd get me a tutor! Me!"_

Her chest was going numb with the harsh beating it was taking from the inside and her voice was getting hoarse from that same harshness coming out of her throat.

"Jinora-"

She ignored his pleas. He didn't understand. This was _suffocating _her. This big, fat failure of hers was undoing everything she had ever worked for.

"_YOU have not spoken to me for seven days, all my grades are down, I've had a total of maybe ten hours of sleep this entire week, so much coffee that I finished all that we had in the house, my sister and I still aren't talking, my mother is trying to pry me open, my brothers are living their lives completely un-fucking-obstructed-"_

He was looking at her now with widening eyes and started walking towards her ever so slowly.

"_Jinora-_"

"_Don't JINORA me. When my dad finds out about this-_"

In that instant, the entire world froze.

_Her father_.

Piece by little piece started falling away as that realization sank in like ice water leaking into a dark, bitter cavern.

Her father was going to hear about this exam.

Her father was going to know that she had _failed _so _horribly_.

All at once everything in her brain lit on fire and smoke must have started seeping into her lungs. She couldn't talk. She couldn't breathe.

Kai said something else, but Jinora couldn't hear him over the ticking bomb in her chest.

Her hands came up to cover her mouth and nose. She started to gasp violently for air. The smoke was going to choke her and she only gasped harder. She spun in some direction and her forehead met something. Leaning against it, she continued to gasp as a painful throbbing was coming from the bomb that was her heart.

She felt hands on her shoulder, but jerked away.

Her heart was to about to explode. That could be the only explanation for all the pain that was drumming through her ribs and meeting behind her sternum.

Raava, she was about to pass out.

There was no air whatsoever.

She clenched her eye shut.

She didn't want to see the flames about to engulf her.

Sweet Raava, she was about to _die_.

Wait, someone was talking to her...

"...I'm here, okay? You're going to be alright. Okay, Jinora? You hear my voice?"

She nodded, but refused to open her eyes.

"You're fine. You're okay. Do you want to get out of here?"

She nodded again. She needed to get to somewhere where there was air.

"My hand is out. Take my hand. I'll take you away from here."

Anywhere. Just somewhere.

She took the hand and felt herself being led away. For the longest time, she just felt herself being pulled along. Her gasping hadn't stopped, one hand still over her mouth and she refused to open her eyes.

But the air was colder now.

Were the flames gone?

-:-:-:-

Groggily, Jinora woke up.

She groaned and shivered. Looking around, she noticed the frost on the ground and the bare branches above her. Roots embedded into the ground acted as a support for her legs to lay against, the trunk of the tree behind her back. Over her body, she noticed, was a black leather jacket that was tucked around her. Turning her head, she found Kai sitting on the other side of the root, his head resting against the trunk. She frowned at him only in a thin long sleeved shirt, their book bags cradled between his legs.

He seemed to have felt her staring and opened his eyes to turn and look at her. Sitting forward now, he shifted around so he could face her more and tried to smile.

"You..." he seemed to try and think about his words. "You back now?"

Miserably, she nodded.

"What..." she began in a whisper, clearing her throat and trying to talk normal again. "What happened?"

"I, um.. I think, well... in short, you were starting to freak out and you just kind of stopped talking... all of a sudden, you started hyperventilating and put your head inside of your locker. I, uh... I started talking to you and I brought you here. That's a really simple way of putting it, but that's the gist of it I suppose..."

She turned away a little.

"I've... I don't..." she frowned. "...I've never felt like that before."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Jinora trying to process whatever had just happened. It was like all her fear had taken over at once and she hadn't been able to handle it. In fact, that seemed like that was exactly what had happened.

"...how did you know what to do?" she asked quietly.

"I... I remembered there was a kid at one of the foster homes I was at. He started to freak out a little bit like you did and his sister came and just started to talk to him... I took a shot and tried to do what she did. It was more of a gamble really..."

She fell silent.

She'd read about these types of things in her health textbooks before, but living it was a completely different experience...

"It's not exactly super uncommon to see foster kids with anxiety. Especially ones who have been separated from their siblings. That was the only time I've seen it before like yours, but..."

She felt her lip quiver again and bit down on the inside. Feeling small now, she hung her head. "I..." she croaked, "I'm sorry for saying that you had... y'know. I guess I'm the one who needs to take care of her issues."

Shame and guilt washed over her as she silently handed him back his jacket. Here she'd been saying that he had issues to work out when now it seems like she shouldn't have been talking.

For a second, he didn't say anything and she felt her eyes rapidly tear up again for the millionth time that day.

"Is it okay if I hug you now?"

She nodded, beginning to cry again miserably and leaned into him. He crossed over the root between them and enveloped her in his arms.

It felt so good to feel him hold her again, but she still felt so ashamed.

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered, clutching onto his shirt and her head tucked into him. "I'm so sorry for everything. I was so stupid..."

"Ssh, shh... don't be sorry," he shushed her, leaning his head on top of hers and soothingly rubbing her arm. "I'm the one needs to say he's sorry... Jinora, I cannot believe what I just put you through and in no way do I deserve you. I'm so, so sorry. I just... I'm the biggest idiot on the face of the planet."

"No, no," she coughed through her crying as he now got them both onto their feet while still hanging onto her. "I was the one who asked you that stupid question. I just... I shouldn't have asked. If I hadn't asked then this wouldn't have happened."

Kai shook his head.

"No, you asked a question and I was too stubborn to hear you out. Jinora, you were right. I... I do have my own issues."

"No, I shouldn't have said that!"

"It's alright. It's true... I was doing to the very thing I was afraid you would do to me and there is no excuse for that. Issues or not. Look what happened to you because of me..."

She shook her head at him.

"No, I... I've been feeling that way for a while. I just- but that time-"

He shushed her again soothingly and started rubbing her back. "It's okay. It's over now. Breathe."

She did and took a deep breath to gather herself.

"Kai..." she whispered. "I felt like I was going to just drop dead right there. I felt like my chest was going to break open. I-I didn't know what to do."

He held her tighter now, protectively and warmly wrapping his arms around her. "To be honest, I was afraid you were too. Jinora, you really scared me."

Tears continued to leak from her eyes.

"I-I-I was terrified. Kai, I've never felt like that before. Ever..."

"It's over now. You're completely safe."

They just stayed like that for a moment, holding and leaning into each other.

Kai pulled back slightly.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

She nodded.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I want you to know that. But I just want to know... why did you ask me that?"

She looked up at him.

"Kai, I... I just wanted to hear you say it. I shouldn't have listened to Meng Meng in the first place, but if you had said it then that would have made it the truth for me."

He let out a breath and, in all his sweetness, leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips. She turned her face up for it, missing his lips immensely.

When they pulled back, he sighed and closed his eyes.

"When... when my mother left me in the park that day..."

Jinora looked up, a slight frown on her mouth and a crease in her brows.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "When my mother left me... that day she gave me ten yuans. My mother had never given me a real gift before and, at first, that was what I thought it was. I stayed in the park like she told me too... I stayed there for _hours _waiting for her. I thought something might have happened to her and for the longest time I never really knew. Years later, I realized she hadn't given me those yuans as a gift. She had given me them to _live off of_."

Horrified, Jinora said nothing and let him continue.

He opened his eyes.

"Realizing that had to be the _sickest _feeling I've ever felt and... and I started feeling that way again with you when you asked me that. I didn't how to face that. So, I didn't."

"Kai... I _never _want to make you feel the way she did. Never."

"And I don't ever, _ever_ want to make you feel what you just felt. I'm so sorry."

This time, Jinora wrapped her hands in the collar of his jacket and brought him down to kiss her.

"I guess..." she began when they pulled back. "I guess we're just both really imperfect, huh?"

"I suppose... but, in a way, facing that made us even more perfect for each other, don't you think?"

She cracked a smile in what felt like forever. "I think so."

Kai leaned his forehead down on hers and looked into her eyes.

"Jinora... I need you to know something. You're amazing. You're smart, you're sweet and you're kind. You're always willing to lend someone a helping hand and no school record, good or bad, could ever measure up to the kind of pure spirit you have and that's what I fell so madly in love with. But even to me you have _nothing _to prove. You have nothing to prove to me or anybody else in this world. You are not a hound hamster on a wheel. I know that me saying that is a thousand times easier than you actually dealing with it, but you being aware of it is the first step to that and... and I promise you here and now that I will never leave you alone like that again."

Regardless of the frigid air around them, Jinora felt a warmth overcome her. She sniffed, wiping her last few leaking tears with the base of her hand.

"C-can we just go somewhere?" she asked. "Just skip school for the rest of the day?"

"Of course we can," he said, his arms slackening from around her now and moving to hold her with his hands. "Mako and Bolin don't get off until later on this evening. We can just go to my place and you can take a nap. Would you like that?"

She nodded at him with a smile.

Gathering their book bags, they walked away from the tree arm in arm.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>Who said what those last two lines? I don't think it even matters :)<p>

When I was writing this, to be honest, it felt kind of messy, but I think that was how it was supposed to feel like. This situation just got kind of messy and I think even the making up had to be messing considering the circumstances. I don't have much to say to this one here, but if you guessed it, Jinora did a panic attack. I've built up this characteristic of Jinora having anxiety and being a people pleaser and I hope that this chapter really shed a lot more light on that side of her. Everybody experiences a panic attack differently so I tried to describe Jinora's as unique to her own problems (there was a lot of stuff about suffocation in there). This isn't the end of that problem there and Jinora's panic attack incident is going to come into an important play later.

Their makeup was messy, but the face of the matter is that Jinora and Kai both have their own flaws. I personally tried to show that Kai was more wrong in this situation, but also that he _knows _it. And now, they've both reached this understanding their they are not perfect people and neither is their relationship, but knowing that makes them more suited for each other and for a healthier relationship in the long run. The healing process can be a messy thing sometimes.

As always, I love it when you guys drop those reviews in as they keep me motivated and keep me writing the story. Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!


End file.
